Page 13 - Oundle Life April 2023

and wrote over 350 papers and many books on the subjects. Her six-volume catalogue of the Rothschild Collection of Fleas (held in the British Museum) took 30 years to complete.
at Bletchley Park during World War II and was awarded a Defence Medal for her work there. She also used the extensive Ashton Estate to offer homes to Jewish refugee children and set
A female pioneer in entomology, Miriam (who became a Dame Commander, Order of the British Empire in 2000) was the first woman trustee of the Natural History Museum. Educated at home, she was later awarded honorary degrees by Oxford, Cambridge, and Göteborg Universities. In 1985 she was invested as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
her legacy
very much lives on in the Ashton Estate and Ashton Wold
up a Red Cross convalescent hospital on the estate for injured allied personnel.
Dame Miriam died on January 20, 2005, at the age of 96, but her legacy very much lives on in the Ashton Estate and Ashton Wold. Visitors can stay in the Dame Rothschild Holiday Houses and walk amongst the very woods and wildlife that inspired Miriam. (www.visitashton.co.uk)
In addition to her academic work, Dame Rothschild was also a great champion of conservation, animal welfare, and gay rights, contributing to the Wolfenden Report which decriminalised ‘homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private.’
Dame Rothschild was something of a war hero too. She had worked alongside Alan Turing
Stuart Barker is a professional writer and author. He has a keen interest in local history and likes nothing better than riding round Northants visiting historical sites on his motorcycle.
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