Nina Frances Layard

Nina Frances Layard FSA FLS ( 20 August 1853 Stratford, Essex – 12 August 1935, Ipswich) was an English poet, prehistorian, archaeologist and antiquarian who conducted important excavations, and by winning the respect of contemporary academics helped to establish a role for women in her field of expertise.

Charles Layard was also a maternal first cousin of Lady Llanover (of the Welsh cultural revival), being the son of Louisa Port, sister of Georgiana (favoured grandniece of Mrs Delany and companion of Fanny Burney), and therefore a descendant of Bernard Granville of Calwich and of Sir Richard Grenville of 'The Revenge'.

[2] Nina Layard was interested in natural history from a young age and was an enthusiastic collector of eggs and shells as a child.

While her only formal education consisted of attendance at a dame-school in Willesden, Middlesex, over the course of her life, she was encouraged in the pursuit of her passions by a number of scholars, including Leonard Jenyns and John Ellor Taylor.

From 1902-05, she conducted excavations at the paleolithic site of Foxhall Road (Ipswich), arguably her most important contribution to the disciplines of archaeology and prehistory.

[6] The two women- who "had private means, influential family and social connections, and the leisure to pursue their interests"-[7] lived together at "The Dowches", Kelvedon, Essex.