11-year-old campaigns for Mary Anning statue

Evie wants to see her palaeontology hero recognised…

An 11-year-old girl from Dorset has been campaigning for a statue to be built of her scientific hero, Mary Anning.

Born into a poor family in Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK, in 1799, Mary Anning is arguably the world’s greatest ever fossil hunter. She started fossil hunting as a child, going on to make some incredible world-first discoveries throughout her life and paving the way for palaeontology (the study of fossils).

Sadly, some of the male scientists that Mary worked with at the time didn’t credit her and so she was almost forgotten to history…

Now, 11-year-old Evie Swire – a keen fossil hunter also from Lyme Regis – hopes to give Mary Anning the credit she deserves in the form of a statue of the palaeontologist in her hometown.

When Evie asked her mum if they could go and see Mary Anning’s statue, she was shocked to hear that one didn’t exist. So, she started a ‘Mary Anning Rocks‘ campaign, appealing for funds to erect a statue in Mary’s honour.

And guess what… it was successful! Sculptor Denise Dutton was tasked with the job of making the statue of Mary Anning.

Evie said that she thought Anning would be “very happy and pleased” if she knew that a statue was being created in her honour.

“Seeing this project come to life makes me very happy because I didn’t know that an 11-year-old could do something like this,” Evie said.

On 21st May 2019 (Mary Anning’s 220th birthday), Evie launched a crowdfunding campaign to fundraise for Mary’s statue. She needed to raise £150,000 – wow!

Exciting update!

Evie and the team at Mary Anning Rocks raised enough money to build the statue. It was unveiled on 21st May 2022 – Mary Anning’s 223rd birthday.

Incredible work, everyone!

Well done, Evie — Nat Geo Kids will have to make a trip to Lyme Regis to see the statue!