Her Name Was Mary

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Mary invents

lots of wondrous contraptions

the bra and the bonnet

 'midst other attractions

..... LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE ..... born 1689 died 1762 .....  introduced smallpox inoculations to England when she became aware of its beneficial effects whilst living in Turkey with her husband who was Ambassador to the Porte in 1716. Although she had to battle for several years for the use of inoculations to be allowed she finally won. Her greatest ally in this fight was the Princess of Wales, later Queen Caroline, who had their three daughters engrafted with the treatment which consisted of scratching the skin with a needle that had been dipped in the pus of a smallpox victim. She was born the daughter of the Earl of Kingston, a pleasure seeking and thoughtless nobleman of the Whig Party. She was only fourteen years old when she met her husband and they eloped in 1712. For some years they lived quietly until he was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury and later went with him to Turkey where she gained the knowledge which she brought back to England and which helped to save many lives

..... MARY the JEWESS, (MARIA PROPHETISSA, MIRIAM the PROPHETESS) a scientist of the 1st century and thought to be the sister of Moses left us the water-bath which is a double boiler used to maintain a constant temperature in experiments. Balneum mariae known in France as a bain-marie. She also synthesized a metal alloy coated with black sulfide and known as Mary's Black

..... MARY KIES of CONNECTICUT was granted a patent in America on the 5th of May 1809 for a method to weave straw with silk and thread and so we have the straw bonnet

..... MARY EVARD gave us the toasting rack

..... MARY PHELPS JACOB - the bra - maybe

..... MARY E H GREENEWALT - the Sarabet is 'a light and colour player' which consisted of on-off switches and rheostats figured like a piano keyboard and which allowed the operator to vary the colour and light intensity in an auditorium

..... MARY PECK BUTTERWORTH - disposable counterfeiting plates

..... MARY NOLAN - Nolanum - a version of the brick in which the object was to construct building blocks which would lock together when forming a wall

..... MARY THOMPSON aged 9 and her sister Teresa aged 8, invented a 'solar teepee' in 1960 for a science fair project. It was called a Wigwarm and the sisters were the youngest ever to be awarded a patent

..... MARY ANDERSON was head of the Women's Bureau established within the Department of Labour which undertook to study how women had made material contributions to the sum total of creative achievements. The period 1905­1921 was chosen and it was found that 5016 patents had been granted to women during these years

       Mary, Mary quite contrary

how does your garden grow

with silver bells and cockleshells

and pretty maids all in a row

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