The Diary of Mary Somerville

1. The Diary of Mary Somerville Jennifer Rose Assignment 2 Creative Piece

2. In that book which is • My memory • On the first page • That is the chapter when • I first met you • Appear the words….. • Here begins a new life • La Vita Nuova, Dante Alighiere

3. Dear Diary, I feel that I can tell you this, you will not judge me harshly for it. 1 I have decided to leave boarding school. It was my Father who sent me there, anyway. A savage, he called me. I cannot say why he would call me this, I assumed that the education that my mother provided me with would be enough, but he returned less than pleased and so- I found myself there. There are many things I remember from my time there, and I will share them with you. Miss Primrose’s face is one I will remember, every inch of her frowned. I found the experience to be a great trial and I missed home, dreadfully. The other girls ask too much of me- does your father have a title? What is the name of your estate? I believed that there would be no end to their questions. Though they may have asked every question they could, those girls were awfully kind to me. I did like playing with the other girls 2, that is something I enjoyed. We had to remember parts of the dictionary, I do not even remember what this dictionary was called.3 October 18th 1797 • Reading List: • Hester MulsoChapone, Letters on the Improvement of the Mind, Addressed to a Young Lady • Several works of William Shakespeare What I must say to you, now that I am free of the horrid experience, I feel like a wild animal escaped out of a cage. 4 But I will not be discouraged by this, I will do whatever I can do learn what I can. One day I will know more than I know now, and I cannot wait for that day.

4. 1Having returned from the boarding school still unable to write, her mother remarked that she would have been contented if Somerville had “only learnt to write well and keep accounts, which was all a woman was expected to know” (Personal Recollections from Early Life and Old Age of Mary Somerville, 29) 2During her time at boarding school, Mary often played with the other children- games such as “balls, marbles and…. Scotch and English” (Personal Recollections from Early Life and Old Age of Mary Somerville, 22) 3Mary and the other students at Miss Primroses’ boarding school had to memorise pages of Johnson’s dictionary (see the attached image) 4 When she left boarding school, as I addressed in this diary, Mary recalled in Personal Recollections that she felt “like a wild animal escaped out of a cage” 5 After Mary read this first text on this ‘Reading List’, she was inspired to read. She also, as I suggested here, read several of Shakespeare’s works. This was met by prejudice from her Aunt particularly, who she recalls said to her mother: “I wonder you let Mary waste her time in reading, she never shews (sews) more than if she were a man” (Personal Recollections from Early Life and Old Age of Mary Somerville, 28) 6A self portrait of Mary Somerville, photo credit Somerville College, University of Oxford

5. January 26th 1802 Dear Diary, I am sorry I have not been writing as frequently as I hoped I would. I thought I would inform you that I attended a tea party with my mother this evening. That is not all I will tell you though. This event could potentially have been dull if it had not have been for another young woman there. This woman, though her name escapes me, suggested that we read one of the monthly women’s magazines. The magazine was full of prints of dresses, charades, and puzzles. It is one of the puzzles I wish to tell you about. It was strange, this puzzle. I had never come across such a strange thing, I could not understand it. What I saw was, as I can best describe it, strange looking lines mixed with letters, chiefly X’s and Y’s. When I asked my companion what this strange puzzle was, as I figured she could possibly make sense of it, she told me that what I saw was “Algebra”. That was all my companion could tell me, I am afraid. This encounter sparked something in me, I must tell you. I became extremely curious to learn more about this. I would not let my lack of earlier education become a problem, I would only grow from this.

6. Women’s Magazines published in the 1800’s

7. August 9th 1807 Dear Diary, I cannot say I am coping very well. This period has been one of great loss, that of my husband and of my son. It feels bizarre to be alone again, I have grown used to being surrounded by people. Though this will be a horrible period of loss and heartache for me, I will not let it break me. I have now had time, not only to myself, but to pursue my studies. People, mostly of my own family, disapprove of my studies. But I have accepted that, as a woman, I will always be subject to criticism. As I am quite independent, I have become engrossed in my studies. I have been corresponding with William Wallace rather frequently, and he has recommended several books for me to read- which is very exciting. I have been reading several texts since Samuel’s death, to keep my mind active and relieve the burden on my heart. My favourite texts I have encountered are: Ferguson’s Astronomy and Isaac Newton’s Principia. 7I am hopeful now more than ever that I will be able to make something of myself.

8. 7 Somerville’s scientific investigation began in the summer of 1825. In this year, she carried out experiments on magnetism. Her paper, “The Magnetic Properties of the Violet Rays of the Solar System”, was presented in 1826. This paper attracted the attention of several scientists and, aside from Caroline Herschel’s astronomical observations, it was the first paper by a woman to be read to the Royal Society and published in its Philosophical Transactions

9. June 4th 1826 Dear Diary, I finally did it. My hard work has paid off. I have managed to complete my very own paper, “The Magnetic Properties of the Violet Rays of the Solar System” . Not only is this wonderful for me, as a woman, but it is also an exploration into something which I am extremely interested in: experimentation regarding magnetism. I am interested in the connection between magnetism and the violet part of the solar spectrum. To carry out my experiment, I used a prism to separate the violet component of sunlight and focus this on a steel needle. I then floated this in a dish of water to see if it would respond to the magnetic field. I hope I haven’t bored you by explaining this…..but I felt that it needed explaining. What I am not interested in, however, is the fact that I cannot present my idea. It is custom, I believe, that a man presents the ideas to an audience. So, I am afraid, I will not be able to explain my own findings myself. This, I find, is extremely irritating. However, I am thankful that my ideas will be communicated to an audience and I hope that I can do something like this again.

10. In 1826, Mary’s paper “The Magnetic Properties of the Violet Rays of the Solar System” was presented. Her husband, William Somerville, had to present the paper as women were not permitted to attend meetings of the Royal Society. Even though she couldn’t attend the meeting, her work was widely praised. Though this may have been the case, Mary’s conclusions were proven to be incorrect.

11. April 3rd 1866 Dear Diary, Something important has happened today. I was approached by a friend, John Stuart Mill, who asked me to sign a petition. I know this may not seem to be a major thing but, trust me, it is. You see, this petition is about something I am extremely passionate about. I have struggled throughout my life as a woman, constantly feeling inferior in comparison to men. Perhaps it was because I have spent a lot of my life around men: my brother, my husbands, my father. Now that I have made a name for myself as a woman writer of scientific investigation, I think that other women should get the chance to do something like this. This petition is about women’s rights. Women’s rights to a vote, to a life that is not determined by men. To a life beyond the home, the husband, and the children. Or at least I hope that this is what this petition will achieve. I, like many of the other women who will sign this, can only hope.

12. In 1866, John Stuart Mill presented the first mass women’s suffrage petition to the House of Commons. This petition was brought to Parliament by Emily Davies and Elizabeth Garrett. This petition aimed to give women the right to vote. I decided to create this diary entry as Mill had Mary put her signature on the petition first.