Ormerod, Eleanor A. (1828–1901)

English entomologist. Born at Sedbury Park, Gloucestershire, England, on May 11, 1828; died at St. Albans on July 19, 1901; daughter of George Ormerod, F.R.S. (author of The History of Cheshire).

Eleanor A. Ormerod was born at Sedbury Park, Gloucestershire, England, in 1828. She was raised on a large estate in the countryside, and even as a very young child was fascinated by the numerous insects found there, which she continued to study as she grew up. As an adult, she enjoyed a local reputation as an expert on insects and agriculture. When, in 1868, the Royal Horticultural Society began collecting insect pests for practical purposes, Ormerod contributed largely to it and was awarded the Flora medal of the society. In 1877, she distributed a pamphlet, Notes for Observations on Injurious Insects, to those interested in this field. When the recipients readily sent her the results of their researches, the well-known Annual Series of Reports on Injurious Insects and Farm Pests was launched. In 1881, Ormerod published a special report on the "turnip-fly." The following year, she was appointed consulting entomologist to the Royal Agricultural Society, a post she held until 1892, and for several years she was also a lecturer on scientific entomology at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Her renown was not limited to England. Her treatise on The Injurious Insects of South Africa was respected worldwide, and she received silver and gold medals from the University of Moscow for her models of insects harmful to plants, as well as the large silver medal from the Société Nationale d'Acclimatation de France (1899). She also wrote the Cobden Journals, Manual of Injurious Insects, and Handbook of Insects Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits. Just before her death in 1901, Ormerod was granted an honorary LL.D. from Edinburgh University, the first woman upon whom the university had conferred this degree. In making the presentation, the dean of the legal faculty said: "The preeminent position which Miss Ormerod holds in the world of science is the reward of patient study and unwearying observation. Her investigations have been chiefly directed towards the discovery of methods for the prevention of the ravages of those insects which are injurious to orchard, field and forest. Her labours have been crowned with such success that she is entitled to be hailed the protectress of agriculture and the fruits of the earth—a beneficent Demeter of the 19th century."