Margaret Elizabeth Fountaine (16 May 1862 – 21 April 1940),[1] was a Victorian lepidopterist (a person interested in butterflies and moths), natural history illustrator, diarist, and traveller who published in The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation.

Fountaine was an accomplished natural history illustrator and had a great love and knowledge of butterflies, travelling and collecting extensively through Europe, South Africa, India, Tibet, America, Australia and the West Indies, publishing numerous papers on her work.

She raised many of the butterflies from eggs or caterpillars, producing specimens of great quality, 22,000 of which are housed at the Norwich Castle Museum and known as the Fountaine-Neimy Collection.

John Fountaine had married Mary Isabella Lee (died 4 July 1906) on 19 January 1860 – she was the daughter of Reverend Daniel Henry Lee-Warner of Walsingham Abbey in Norfolk.

[6] At the age of 27, Fountaine and her sisters became financially independent, having inherited a considerable sum of money from their uncle.

Fountaine and her sister travelled to France and Switzerland, relying on the Tourist Handbook by Thomas Cook & Son.

In Switzerland Fountaine felt the desire to acquire specimens of the Scarce Swallowtail and Camberwell Beauty butterflies, when discovering them in the valleys.

[11] Following her expedition to Sicily Fountaine became a reputable collector and she formed professional relations with lepidopterists in the Natural History Department of the British Museum.

Fountaine started to collect caterpillars in the French Alps, which she breed to produce adult butterfly specimens.

Her articles in The Entomologist on the expedition discussed seasonal and geographical influences on butterfly species, prompting notes and letters on the subject in subsequent issues.

Norman Riley, who went on to become the head of the Entomology Department at the British Museum, said "these sketchbooks were most beautifully done and illustrated the metamorphosis of many species which had not been previously known to science".

Her research on the life cycles, food plants and seasonal timings of skin and colour changes was published in Transactions of the Entomological Society.

15 years earlier Beatrix Potter had been unable to attend a reading of her own paper at the society, because she was a woman.

[15] In the run-up to World War I Fountaine was on expedition in India, Ceylon, Nepal and the territories of the Qing Dynasty in what is considered Tibet.

[17] The Benedictine monk who discovered her, Brother Bruno, brought her body back to Pax Guest House, where she was staying at the time.

[6] She left a large collection of scientifically accurate watercolours to the British Museum of Natural History.

She had filled twelve large volumes of cloth-bound books with some 3,203 pages and more than a million words, displaying a blend of Victorian reserve and startling candour.

Cater compiled a selection of passages on romance and travel, while the work of collecting, breeding and mounting specimens got short shrift.

The former senior curator of Natural History at the Norwich Castle Museum, Dr Tony Irwin had announced the existence of the diaries, and started to promote Fountaine's romantic life above her entomological contribution.

[20] During Fountaine's lifetime entomology was very fashionable among the affluent in Britain, and natural history societies were well attended.

A popular scientific publication was Emma Hutchinson's 1879 book "Entomology and Botany as Pursuits for Ladies", which encouraged women to study butterflies instead of just collecting them.

[24] Fountaine's illustrations of African flora and fauna were featured in the 2019 Natural History Museum exhibition, Expeditions and Endeavours.