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Hi everyone, I am a new member from Italy. I am an amateur visual astronomer, and during full moon periods, I enjoy delving into historical topics. I collect Victorian-era books and love comparing those notes and drawings to my own astronomical notes and sketches.
Among the many books I own, I have a first edition from 1864 of “A General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, arranged in order of right ascension and reduced to the common epoch 1860-0 (with precessions computed for the epoch 1880-0)” by John Frederick William Herschel. A fragment has been removed from the first page, which likely contained John’s autograph. Next to it, there is the name of Mary Ashley, whom I discovered, after some painstaking research, lived at 16 New Kind Street, Bath (or at least that was her address in 1889, according to some letters sent to the poet Walt Whitman) just two house numbers away from the Herschels. Mary is mentioned here and there in the context of selenography; it seems she had her own observatory or at least her own instrument that she used to study, compare, and update lunar surface maps (looks like she was also into planets).
I am looking for information about Mary. I have done some research and know where she is buried, and I have found traces (in online scans) of letters she sent to various journals (Selenographical Journal, as well as in the Astronomical Register, English Mechanic and World of Science, and The Observatory). In one of the “Letters to the Editor” (https://britastro.org/journal_old/archive/de98ltrs.htm), I see that Anthony Kinder was asking several years ago if anyone had news of her. Anthony also claims that the BAA has 6 of the 7 notebooks:
1878 July 3–1879 May 6–3¼-inch.
1879 May 29–1880 Aug 30–3¼-inch; from 1880 February 14, the 4-inch.
1880 Sep 17–1881 Dec 1–4-inch. Sketches said to be in a separate volume, missing?
1881 Dec 2–1882 Jul 24–mainly 4-inch; sometimes 3¼-inch.
1883 Jul 26–1884 Oct 8–4-inch. Sketches correspond to vol.2 and part of vol.3.
1884 Oct 9–1885 Feb 17–4-inch. Sketches in volume 3.Is it correct that the BAA has these notebooks? How can they be viewed? Is there anything online, or does it need to be done in person?
I was wondering if any of you had further information on Mary. Meanwhile, I will try to contact Anthony Kinder, hoping he is still reachable at the email published 16 years ago! Do any of you know him?
Yes the BAA does have Mary Ashley’s notebooks in its archives. To look at these you would have to speak to the archivists: see the inside back page of the Journal for their contact details. I’ll also message you privately about this.
David Arditti (President)
Mary Ashley (1842 – 1903) of New King Street Bath.
Having read your request for information re the above named, I have done a little research and my findings are as follows:
You are probably aware that Mary Ashley died on March 28, 1903, as you say you have found her place of burial. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Ashley LLD and his wife Catherine, who was the daughter of Charles Ward and his wife Elinor (the daughter of the Right Hon. Stephen Radcliffe) who lived at Holly Mount in the Queen’s County and at Merrion Square, Dublin, Ireland. Elinor Ward died at Avenue House, Southampton, in 1857, age 87.The Reverend John Ashley, who was born at Ashley Hall in Jamaica, married Catherine Ward on August 3, 1824, at Millbrook, Hampshire (Ancestry and Gentleman’s Magazine). Catherine died on October 13, 1867, at 28 Gay Street, Bath. She previously lived at number 18. Mary’s sister, Ellen, died the following month. The sister Catherine was a landscape painter. On September 15, 1868, John Ashley married Elizabeth Treadwell at Marylebone, by licence. She was half his age. John died in 1886 (Probate in Principal Registry). He was a founder of a mission for seamen. Mary’s grandfather, also John Ashley, was a slave owner (died 1850 – probate in Prerogative Court of Canterbury) and Mary’s father was also involved.
Mary’s age on census returns is consistent: 1851 (age 8); 1861 (18); 1871 (28), 1881 (38), which gives her date of birth as c1844. Her baptism can be found at Shirehampton, Gloucestershire on October 30, 1844. However, an image of the baptism which may be viewed on Ancestry, shows an entry in the right-hand margin which states she was baptised privately shortly after her birth. An entry in the left-hand margin gives her date of birth as September 1, 1842.
The 1851 census, incidentally, shows John Ashley’ wife as Mary which is clearly in error. The details match that of Catherine. The details of Mary’s siblings are in full agreement with other censuses, so it is the same John Ashley.Interestingly, Mary appears to have lodged a patent (17354) according to the Langport and Somerton Herald of September 14,1901. The print is smudged so I am not able to fully make out what is written but it appears to be something to do with decorations! You may be able to find out more with the patent number.
Yes the BAA does have Mary Ashley’s notebooks in its archives. To look at these you would have to speak to the archivists: see the inside back page of the Journal for their contact details. I’ll also message you privately about this.
David Arditti (President)
Hi David, will surely do! I can’t wait to dive into her notes; they must be truly fascinating. For now, I’ve enjoyed overlaying the only sketch of hers that I’ve managed to find within a publication (Selenographical Journal) onto a modern image. It’s just a draft without any pretensions, but it was interesting to see how attentive she was to certain details. I also plan to select some of the areas she observed and draw them myself, if I haven’t already done so in the past, to compare the sketches. I’ll get in touch with the archivists and as soon as I can, I’ll fly over to visit you. Literally.
Having read your request for information re the above named….
Hi David C., I see you’re an excellent sleuth! I had set my father loose on Ancestry, but he didn’t find much. Thank you for the information; it’s very interesting for placing Mary in the right context. Could you please send me the links to the sources (I know they might be behind paywalls, but my father has at least an Ancestry account)? The patent issue is also intriguing; I’ll try to figure out how to dig into old patents, as the topic has piqued my curiosity, even though it likely has nothing to do with astronomy.
Thank you for taking an interest in this person who, I believe, deserves more credit and recognition, even if it’s just by creating a single point with all the information about her, digitizing her notes (I’ll gladly help), and linking and citing all the journals she interacted with. There are so few women active in astronomy from that era, and it’s a shame she has remained in the shadows.
By the way, I just realized that the book she owned, with her signature attached, was a book from the BAA! I imagine it was chosen to be sold because there was a better copy, but if I were you, I would have kept it just for Mary’s autograph!
Elementary, my dear Watson! And now I’ll add Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association to the list of collections or journals that mention her. Thank you! I could get used to your ability to find sources; I’m writing a book on the history of globular clusters, focusing on descriptions and sketches from the 1800s (I have around 400 sources from books of that era so far, and this is what then led me to start purchasing them. I now own about a hundred), but I’ll open that topic in another dedicated thread.
Thanks again for the interesting material. I owe you a beer when I’m next in the UK.
I have old copies of the JBAA on the BAA DVDs. A search shows Mary Ashley is mentioned in Vol 13-4: “A special mention was made of a gift by Miss Ashley of valuable astronomical books and diagrams together with two telescope stands”. She also bequeathed items to the BAA. See especially Vol 13-10, p376. Books were duplicates to the BAA library, and so were offered to members. Yes, with hindsight, the BAA should have kept it. Her name is also mentioned in later journals as a person who bequeathed certain items listed in the inventory stated in those journals.
He is the 1881 census link for Ancestry.
Mary Ashley’s notebooks that are in our archive are currently being scanned and once done we hope to have them available to see online via the archive website. If you are a member you will be able to view them.
Hi John, I’m indeed a new BAA member and eager to see the notebooks. I’ll privately write you about the matter, as I’ll gladly have a look at them live, and not just online.
It will take an age to list all the links. The 1881 census is what I started with as that gives the address you have. I show above the link for her baptism which is probably the best way to set you on a path for the others. Before clicking on the baptism entry scroll down and you will see a link to the 1861 census. Click on the link and before viewing the image, click on Catherine Ashley (mother) and that will give you access to other links.
The 1881 census lists Mary Ashley’s occupation as an astronomer so may be she was more that an amateur. Good luck with your book. I hope you find time to publish a piece on Miss Ashley.
The BAA Memoirs are available on SAO ADS.
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/search/q=bibstem%3AMmBAA&sort=date%20asc%2C%20bibcode%20asc&p_=0
Unfortunately the person doing the scanning doesn’t seem to have worked out the pagination and sometimes the content doesn’t match the title!
Bill Barton,
Deputy Director, Historical Section.
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