Evelyn Cheesman had 200 insects named after her, got trapped in a giant spider’s web and accidently sent a poisoned spear to King George V.
But as a female scientist, Evelyn Cheesman, from Westwell near Ashford in Kent, fought prejudice while working as the first keeper of insects at London Zoo in 1917.
Her work, including her discoveries about the earth’s tectonic plates, features in a new book – Wildly Different – by Sarah Lonsdale.
Ms Lonsdale, from Adisham, said she was inspired to write about Ms Cheesman after reading a newspaper article about her collection of 42,000 insects.
The middle of five children, Ms Cheesman was born in Westwell in 1881 and began her love of nature by hunting glow worms in her garden.
Ms Lonsdale said: “She often went out just with her Collie dog, Shep, collecting glow worms and snails from her garden which she let loose in the house, horrifying her mother.
“She was fascinated with the natural world from a very young age.”
Ms Cheesman applied to be a vet at the Royal Veterinary College but was rejected because she was a woman.
She was later rejected again after applying under a male pseudonym when the college recognised her handwriting.
Ms Cheesman received an opening at London Zoo in 1917 and replenished its insect collection by seeking bugs brought in with fruit in Covent Garden.
During an expedition in Gorgona Island, Colombia, Ms Cheesman became trapped in a giant spider’s web for more than an hour and was forced to cut her way out using a nail file.
She is also well known for her solo trips to the South Pacific, which she visited eight times, according to the Natural History Museum.
While in Malekula, an island in Vanuatu, Ms Cheesman was asked to select a gift to send back to King George V.
She picked a spear that was three times her length.
It was sent back to Sandringham – but upon testing it was found to have been tipped with the poison strychnine and the King refused to accept it.
Ms Lonsdale said: “I like her determination and passion for what she was doing.
Even into her sixties she was climbing up a cliff face in Papua New Guinea in her old school lacrosse shoes.”
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