15 Facts About Tessa Wheeler

Tessa Wheeler was an archaeologist who made a significant contribution to excavation techniques and contributed to the setting up of major British archaeological institutions after the Second World War.

Tessa Wheeler Verney was born in Johannesburg, the daughter of John Verney, a doctor, and Annie Booth Kilburn.

Tessa Wheeler had an elder half-brother from her mother's first marriage.

Tessa Wheeler was educated at Addey and Stanhope School in Deptford, and read history at University College London from 1911 to 1914.

Tessa Wheeler met her future husband Mortimer Wheeler in 1912, and they were married in May 1914.

Tessa Wheeler served in the artillery in the First World War, initially as an instructor in the University of London Officers' Training Corps, and later at other places in Scotland and England.

Tessa Wheeler accompanied Mortimer on his postings until he was sent to France in 1917.

Tessa Wheeler followed her husband Mortimer to Cardiff in 1920 when he took up a post at the National Museum of Wales.

Tessa Wheeler was the Keeper of Archaeology at the National Museum of Wales where her husband was promoted and held the position of Director from 1924 to 1926.

Tessa Wheeler organised the excavations, controlled finances, and recorded the finds, and Mortimer interpreted the results.

Tessa Wheeler became a lecturer at the London Museum in 1928, and became the second woman to be elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries the same year.

Tessa Wheeler was an effective lecturer and teacher of the next generation of archaeology students.

Tessa Wheeler successfully removed a Roman palace mosaic floor with all pieces intact.

Tessa Wheeler's aforementioned contribution to the Wheeler-Kenyon method is a highlight of her professional career that continues to be important in archaeology today.

Tessa Wheeler spent much of her early career in the shadow of her husband, like many earlier female archaeologists, but later work was published under their joint names and their contemporaries considered "the Wheelers" to be a team; some considered her to be the more talented field archaeologist.