Amazing Facts About Mary Anning – The First Female Paleontologist

#14 She Had Nine Siblings, But Not All Survived

Mary Anning’s parents had ten children. Sadly, everyone did not survive. Molly and Richard Anning’s firstborn, also named Mary, died at the age of four when her clothes accidentally caught on fire.

After the first and oldest daughter Mary, there was a daughter who died almost too soon.

Then Joseph, Mary Anning’s only surviving sibling, was born in 1796. Molly and Richard had another son in 1798 who died in his early days.

Mary Anning was born soon after her elder sister’s tragic death and was named after her.

Molly and Richard had more children after that, but they did not survive either past the age of two. So, eventually, Joseph and the second Mary Anning survived all the way to adulthood.