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Museum honours one of its first female scientists

Matthew Lockwood,Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshireand
Christopher Day,Local Democracy reporter
News imageTrustees of the Natural History Museum A museum gallery displays a wide range of preserved animal specimens arranged inside tall glass display cases. Large mammals, including polar bears and lions, are prominently positioned among smaller animals and birds throughout the exhibit. A polished wooden floor and narrow central walkway create a symmetrical view extending down the length of the room. The collection is carefully organised to showcase wildlife diversity in an educational and historical setting.Trustees of the Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum in Tring, built in 1889, houses one of the largest private natural history collections

Plans have been submitted for a blue plaque to honour a renowned palaeontologist who was one of the first female scientists at the Natural History Museum.

It has applied for permission to erect a Historic England plaque honouring Dorothea Bate at its site in Tring, Hertfordshire.

She began working for the Natural History Museum in 1898, aged 19, and discovered numerous fossils of extinct species across England, Europe and further afield.

During World War Two, she was responsible for transferring precious artefacts from the museum's main site in South Kensington in London to Tring.

After the conflict ended, she was appointed Officer in Charge at the Hertfordshire Collection, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

If permission is granted by Dacorum Borough Council, the plaque would be fixed to the wall of the original cottage on Akeman Street, facing Park Street.

News imageGhar Dalam Museum and Heritage Malta The black and white image shows three people standing outdoors. Dorothea Bate is standing in the centre.Ghar Dalam Museum and Heritage Malta
Dorothea Bate (centre) with Sir Temi Zammit and Dr Joseph Baldacchino at the National Museum in Valletta, Malta, in April 1934

Bate had little formal education, but a fascination with wildlife and nature prompted her to leave Carmarthenshire in south Wales and to ask for a job at Natural History Museum.

She spent more than 50 years working for the museum and led expeditions around the world before her death in 1951.

She became an expert in archaeozoology, the study of animal remains, and her largest discoveries included fossilised elephants and the bones of a giant tortoise in Bethlehem.

In 2017, a plaque was unveiled at Napier House in Carmarthen, where she was born.

News imageTrustees of the Natural History Museum The front exterior of a large detached or semi-detached house with a distinctive early 20th Century architectural style, but in a Tudor style. There is an open lawn in the front with tables and benches. One of the tables has a green parasol covering it.Trustees of the Natural History Museum
If permission for the plaque is granted it would be fixed to the wall of the original cottage of the museum on Akeman Street, facing Park Street, in Tring

There is an existing plaque on the wall at the museum's site in Tring commemorating Lord Walter Rothschild, whose taxidermy collection is housed there.

Born into a prominent banking family in 1868, Lord Rothschild became interested in nature when he was very young.

His father – the first Lord Rothschild – built him a museum on the edge of Tring Park for his 21st birthday.

Three years later Walter's Zoological Museum – now the Natural History Museum at Tring – opened to the public.

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