Ethel Katharine Pearce

Ethel Katharine Pearce
Born(1856-06-11)June 11, 1856
Morden, Dorset
DiedJanuary 8, 1940(1940-01-08) (aged 83)
Occupation(s)Entomologist
Photographer
Journalist
Notable workTypical flies : a photographic atlas of Diptera, including Aphaniptera (1915-1928)

Ethel Katharine Pearce (1856–1940) was a journalist, photographer and entomologist, particularly known for her work on Diptera.

Early life

Pearce was born at Morden, Dorset on 11 June 1856,[1] and christened on 13 July.[2] Pearce's parents were Thomas Pearce, vicar of Morden (1820–1885), and Fanny Georgina Blake (1827–1919), who had married in 1852.[3] Pearce had three brothers: Frank, Evelyn[4] and Nigel (1862–1939)[5] who was also an entomologist.

Pearce's parents set up the first school in Morden village when they arrived there in 1853, and her well-educated father often provided remedies and visits for the villagers, acting as a substitute for the nearest doctor, who lived five miles away.[6]

Pearce had begun her natural history observations in childhood, saying that the abundant kingfishers, magpies, jays and rooks she had seen when young were no longer present at Morden as she neared eighty years old.[6][7] Pearce's obituary in the journal Nature noted that in her early life "she had around her one of the finest entomological hunting grounds even in a county as favoured as Dorset."[8]

Pearce trained as a journalist and although many of her pieces were published without attribution, she is known to have been on the staff of The Cambridge Examiner from 1884 and The Gentlewoman magazine from 1891 to 1913 as well as contributing to other women's and sporting magazines.[2] Later in her life Pearce was a regular correspondent in the letters page of the Western Gazette, contributing scientific items such as a meteor sighting from Morden in April 1936 that was corroborated by other witnesses across the south west of England.[9]

"Typical Flies" and its reception

Figures 16, 16a and 17 from Ethel Katharine Pearce's first volume of Typical Flies (1915), showing mosquitoes from the suborder Nematocera

Pearce's Typical Flies was the first photographic guidebook published about flies.[10] In the introduction to the first volume (1915) Pearce said her motivation for making the work was the relative lack of published information about Diptera, especially for beginner entomologists.[11] In addition to Pearce's own collecting and observations she credited many other entomologists for their help, including her brother Nigel Pearce, George Nuttall, Cecil Warburton, and Frederick Theobald.[11]

Pearce mounted fly specimens as flat as possible in order to facilitate a good photograph, and took pictures using her own 'stepped' method to achieve depth of field.[10] Nigel Pearce had designed a camera bench for Ethel to facilitate precise camera movement (built by a carpenter).[2] The captions for each photograph included remarks about known species habits.[11]

Typical Flies was well-reviewed: as Pearce had published only her initials and surname on the title page, many reviewers assumed that the author was male, referring to "Mr Pearce."[12][13][14][15] Likely because Pearce had previously worked for The Gentlewoman magazine, the book reviewer from The Gentlewoman was better informed about Pearce's identity, crediting 'an extremely clever treatise by Miss E.K. Pearce." [16]

Pearce was elected a Member of the Royal Entomological Society in 1922,[17] elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1923[18] and elected a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London in 1924.[19]

Pearce followed her first volume of Typical Flies with two more volumes including further Diptera families, published in 1921 and 1928.[20][21]

Death and legacy

Pearce died on 8 January 1940.[22]

Pearce gifted use of her personal estate to her brother Frank and her servant Gertie Bartlett, the latter of whom she left financial support.[23] Pearce was deaf later in life, and she thanked her friends and Bartlett in her will for assistance in making her deafness more manageable: "countless kindnesses that made my deafness seem nothing at all indeed my life a peaceful happy one."[23] Pearce requested that her personal papers, and those of her late mother, be burned by her executors.[24]

Pearce's collection of Diptera specimens and archive is today part of the collection at Oxford University Museum of Natural History.[2]

Selected works

1915: Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera, including Aphaniptera: [series 1]: Cambridge University Press[11]

1915: Flies and Butterflies: Country Life: 24 July 1915: volume XXXVIII: issue 968: page 143[25]

1916: Chrysops sepulchralis F., and Anthrax fenestratus Fln., in Dorsetshire: The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine: volume 52: page 208[26]

1921: Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera: second series: Cambridge University Press[20]

1928: Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera: series 1, second edition: Cambridge University Press[21]

References

  1. ^ "Births, Marriages and Deaths: Births: PEARCE: June 11, at Morden, the wife of the Rev. Thomas Pearce, Vicar of Morden, of a daughter". Poole & Dorset Herald. 19 June 1856. p. 5 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ a b c d Chandler, Peter J. (2009). "Ethel Katharine Pearce (1856-1940) and her contribution to dipterology" (PDF). Dipterists Digest. 16 (2) – via dipterists.org.uk.
  3. ^ "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940 for Fanny Georgina Blake [marriage of Fanny Georgina Blake to Reverend Thomas Pearce at Marylebone Parish Church, 14 July 1852. Original record held at London Metropolitan Archives]". ancestry.co.uk.
  4. ^ "1861 England Census: showing Ethel Pearce aged 4: Dorset: East Mordern: District 5: address: Morden Vicarage [brothers Frank and Evelyn are also present aged 7 and 6]". ancestry.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Morden: Death of Former Vicar's Son". Western Gazette. 6 October 1939. p. 8 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b Pearce, E.K. (3 January 1936). "Other Days in Dorset. Morden Eighty Years Ago". Western Gazette. p. 12 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ Pearce, E.K. (21 August 1936). "To the Editor: Rookeries". Western Gazette. p. 2 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ Haines, F.H. (3 February 1940). "Obituaries: Miss E.K. Pearce". Nature. 145: 178. doi:10.1038/145178b0.
  9. ^ Pearce, E.K.; Gatcombe, Dorothy H.; Hibberd, F.; Webb, W.; Dobson, J.; Hutchings, H.E.; Sturgess, W.; Mallard, F.R. (24 April 1936). "A Meteor. Seen in Hants, Wilts, Dorset and Somerset. Readers' Letters to the Editor". Western Gazette. p. 2 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ a b "Ethel Katherine Pearce". oumnh.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  11. ^ a b c d Pearce, E.K. (1915). Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera, including Aphaniptera. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  12. ^ ""Typical Flies" by E.K. Pearce. Cambridge University Press, 5s net". Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art. 10 July 1915. p. 20 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "The Cambridge University Press has just published "Typical Flies," a Photographic Atlas of Diptera, including Aphaniptera". The Bookseller. 23 July 1915. p. 5 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Typical Flies". Manchester Courier. 22 July 1915. p. 4 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "New Books: Typical Flies". The Scotsman. 12 July 1915. p. 2 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Japanese Women in Decorative Art [book reviews]". The Gentlewoman. 24 July 1915. p. 84 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ The Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London. Vol. 10. 1935. pp. xxiv.
  18. ^ Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. 1923. p. 15.
  19. ^ A List of the Fellows of the Zoological Society of London. 1926. p. 141.
  20. ^ a b Pearce, E.K. (1921). Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera: second series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  21. ^ a b Pearce, E.K. (1928). Typical Flies: A Photographic Atlas of Diptera: series 1, second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  22. ^ Probate Calendar for England, 1940: page 241. accessed via probatesearch.gov.uk
  23. ^ a b "Banished handicap". Manchester Evening News. 5 March 1940. p. 5 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Will of Miss Pearce: Bequests to Faithful Friend". Western Gazette. 8 March 1940. p. 4 – via The British Newspaper Archive.
  25. ^ Pearce, E.K. (24 July 1915). "Flies and Butterflies". Country Life. XXXVIII (968): 143 – via archive.org.
  26. ^ Pearce, E.K. (September 1916). "Chrysops sepulchralis F., and Anthrax fenestratus Fln., in Dorsetshire". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 52: 208 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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