- Persoon
- 1813-1885
Mary, Countess of Rosse, was born Mary Field, daughter of John Wilmer Field, in 1813. She married Lord William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse on 14 April 1836, moving from Yorkshire to Birr Castle, King’s County. She and Lord Rosse shared an interest in astronomy, and with significant financial investment on Lady Mary’s part they built the largest telescope in the world at the time, the ‘Leviathan of Parsonstown.’ Along with her interest in astronomy, Mary Rosse was an accomplished blacksmith, and aided in construction of the telescope. Her scientific interests brought her to become close friends with the cousin of the 3rd Earl, Mary Ward, who was a frequent visitor at Birr Castle. As the Countess of Rosse, she carried out significant renovations to Birr Castle under the advice of her uncle, Richard Wharton Myddleton. Through her many projects, she managed to employ over 500 men during the Great Famine of 1845-47. Overshadowing her renovations of Birr Castle, and aid in building the Leviathan of Parsonstown, Mary Rosse is best known for her work in early daguerreotype and glass plate photography. Her work was praised by a family acquaintance, William Henry Fox Talbot, and she joined the Dublin Photographic Society. In 1859 her work won her a silver medal for the best paper negative from the Photographic Society of Ireland. Mary Rosse had four children who survived to adulthood: Laurence (1840-1908), Randal (1848-1936), Richard Clere (1851-1923), and Charles (1854-1931). She died in 1885.