Searching the Cliffs: The Life of Mary Anning

Along the southern coast of England, steep cliffs face the crashing waves of the English Channel. This area, known as the Jurassic Coast, is made of soft layers of limestone and clay. In the early nineteenth century, heavy rain and ocean storms regularly caused large sections of these cliffs to crumble, exposing ancient secrets buried in the rock. Here, in the small town of Lyme Regis, Mary Anning spent her life uncovering the remains of creatures that roamed the Earth millions of years before humans existed.

Mary was born in 1799 into a poor working-class family. Her father, Richard Anning, was a carpenter who earned extra money by searching the beaches for "curiosities." These were fossils—the hardened remains or imprints of ancient animals and plants. Tourists visiting the seaside often purchased these unusual stone shapes as souvenirs. Richard taught Mary and her brother Joseph how to search the shingle beaches and carefully hammer fossils free from the surrounding rock. When their father died unexpectedly in 1810, the family was left in deep debt, and selling fossils became essential for their survival.