Eleanor Anne Ormerod

1828 - 1901

Eleanor Ormerod was a British entomologist, who played a pivotal role in establishing economic entomology, the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops, as a science of national importance.

Ormerod grew up in the large estate and exploring its grounds developed her interest in studying insects. Despite studying entomology since 1852, her first publications weren’t published until the year her father died in 1873 as her endeavours were not taken seriously by her family. Her publications, particularly her Annual Series of Reports on Injurious Insects and Farm Pests made her advice on controlling insect pests sort after, and she became one of the greatest authorities on the subject.

Eleanor Ormerod as key in the institutionalization of economic entomology and gained many accolades during her life. She was a consultant to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and due to her work into the relationship between weather and insects, she became the first woman fellow of the Meteorological Society in 1878. To acknowledge the impact of her research, she was the first woman to be honoured with a doctorate degree by the University of Edinburgh and was deemed the ‘protectress of agriculture and fruits of the earth’.

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