Benett, Etheldred (1776–1845)

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Benett, Etheldred (1776–1845)

English geologist. Born in 1776; died on January 11, 1845; second daughter of Thomas Benett, of Pyt House near Tisbury.

One of the earliest of English women geologists, Etheldred Benett was born at Pyt House, near Tisbury. She later resided at Norton House, near Warminster, in Wiltshire, and for more than 25 years devoted herself to collecting and studying the fossils of her native county. She contributed "A Catalogue of the Organic Remains of the County of Wilts" to Sir R.C. Hoare's County History. A limited number of copies of this work were printed as a separate volume (1831) and privately distributed.

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