Tessa Wheeler
Tessa Wheeler | |
---|---|
Born | Tessa Verney 27 March 1893 Johannesburg, South Africa |
Died | 15 April 1936 London, England, UK | (aged 43)
Occupation | Archaeologist |
Spouse | Mortimer Wheeler |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University College London |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Archaeology |
Tessa Wheeler
Owing to the gender politics of the era, she remains best known as the wife and professional partner of Mortimer Wheeler.[2] They collaborated on major excavations in Wales and England (including Segontium, Caerleon, and Verulamium) and their investigation of Maiden Castle, Dorset had been ongoing for two years when she died unexpectedly from complications following a minor operation.[3]
Early and private life
Tessa Verney was born in Johannesburg, the daughter of John Verney, a doctor, and Annie Booth Kilburn. She had an elder half-brother from her mother's first marriage. The family moved to Lewisham, south London, with her mother's third husband, a chemist.[4] She was educated at Addey and Stanhope School in Deptford,[4] and read history at University College London from 1911 to 1914.[2] She met her future husband Mortimer Wheeler in 1912, and they were married in May 1914. He 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. She accompanied Mortimer on his postings until he was sent to France in 1917. Their only child, Michael Mortimer Wheeler, was born in January 1915. He became a barrister and judge.
Career
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
Tessa followed Mortimer to Cardiff in 1920 when he took up a post at the
The excavation methods they used, for example the grid system (later developed further by
She 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.[4] During her time in London she was also a member of the Research Council of the Society of Antiquaries.[5] The Wheelers worked together to rejuvenate the London Museum and to establish an Institute of Archaeology in London, which was founded in 1934 and opened in 1937. She was an effective lecturer and teacher of the next generation of archaeology students.
The Wheelers continued to work together, performing many major excavations within Britain, including that of the Roman villa at Lydney Park in 1928–29, Roman Verulamium (modern-day St Albans) in 1930–34, and the late Iron Age hill-fort of Maiden Castle, Dorset, which was assistant directed by Molly Cotton from 1934 to 1938.[7] At Maiden Castle, the Wheelers collaborated with Beatrice de Cardi and Veronica Seton-Williams.[8] The work from Caerleon, Lydney, and St Albans were published under their joint names.[4]
Tessa's excavation of mosaics was seen as her professional trademark. She successfully removed a Roman palace mosaic floor with all pieces intact.[5]
Her later life was blighted by the open unfaithfulness of her sexually adventurous husband, and she also had ill-health, including blackouts and gastric problems. She may have exacerbated her symptoms through overwork and a desire to meet the exacting demands of her husband. After a minor operation in early 1936, she became seriously ill and died from a
Prior to her death, Tessa arranged many of the practicalities of establishing the Institute of Archaeology, from finance and logistics to arrangement of accommodation at St John's Lodge, Regent's Park. The Institute began accepting students the year after Tessa's death.
She spent much of her early career in the shadow of her husband, like many earlier female archaeologists,[9] but later work was published under their joint names and their contemporaries considered "the Wheelers" to be a team; some[who?] considered her to be the more talented field archaeologist.
Legacy
A black marble memorial plaque to Tessa Wheeler was unveiled at the Institute of Archaeology in 1937. A biography was published by Lydia Carr in 2012.[1]
Publications
- Wheeler, T. 1928. The Caerleon Amphitheatre: a Summary. London: Bedford Press.
- Wheeler, R. E. M. & T. Verney Wheeler. 1928. "The Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon, Monmouthshire", Archaeologia, vol. 78. Oxford: The Society of Antiquaries.
- — 1932. Report on the Excavation of the Prehistoric, Roman, and Post-Roman site in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire (Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London 9). Oxford: The Society of Antiquaries.
- — 1936. Verulamium: a Belgic and two Roman cities (Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London 11). Oxford: The Society of Antiquaries.
Notes
- ^ ISBN 9780199640225.
- ^ a b Carr, Lydia. "Tessa Verney Wheeler: researcher, excavator, teacher, communicator - and wife".
- ^ "UCL Archives Record, Tessa Wheeler papers". Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63235. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ ISBN 9780199640225.
- ^ "Beyond Jericho - Archaeology Magazine Archive". archive.archaeology.org. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ Kay, Stephen (9 May 2014). "Molly Cotton From Iron Age Britain to Republican Rome". Trowelblazers. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ Roskams, Steve (13 June 2016). "An Appreciation of Beatrice de Cardi". Trowelblazers. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ Carr 2012, p. 1
References
- McIntosh, Jane (2012) [2004]. "Wheeler, Tessa Verney [née Tessa Verney] (1893–1936)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63235. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Tessa Verney Wheeler: researcher, excavator, teacher, communicator – and wife, Antiquity
- Ghost hunting: Research memories of Tessa Verney Wheeler, OUPblog
- Tessa Verney Wheeler: Women and Archaeology Before World War Two, Lydia C. Carr
- UCL archives
- Association of Roman Archaeology Bulletin 18, p. 7–8