Mary Anne Boode

Born in 1799, she was a British naturalist and scientific illustrator and writer. Her father was part of a leading family of slave-owners in British Guiana and the family’s money derived from plantations in the West Indies. She married Edward Cust, who was knighted in 1831. From 1830 to 1840, Lady Cust was Woman of the Bedchamber to the Duchess of Kent, Queen Victoria’s mother. She wrote several books alongside her interest in scientific illustration and collection. She died in 1882, aged 82.