11 Facts About Dorothy Liddell

Dorothy Liddell, MBE was a pioneering woman archaeologist and mentor to both Mary Leakey and Mary Eily de Putron.

Dorothy Liddell was one of six children born to the couple.

Dorothy Liddell's father was a prosperous director of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company and a Justice of the Peace first for Northumberland and later for Basingstoke.

Dorothy Liddell was a nurse in the hospital and after the death of her brother Aidan, a Victoria Cross recipient, and the closure of the hospital she joined the red cross in La Panne and worked there until the end of the war.

Dorothy Liddell was raised with the typical education of the time, taught by governesses and tutors.

Dorothy Liddell was able to perform well on the violin and was a debutante, presented at Court.

Dorothy Liddell discovered the young Leakey and worked with her initially for three summers and later trained her for four years.

Together they worked on the Hembury site in Devon, where Dorothy Liddell uncovered a framed entrance which led to an enclosure which had been destroyed by fire.

Dorothy Liddell discovered more pottery matching other locations like Fort Harrouard in France and other Iron Age sites.

Dorothy Liddell's work is still cited in other papers about these.

Dorothy Liddell died prematurely and was buried with her parents and brother near the Church of the Holy Ghost in Basingstoke.