On one occasion the eldest sister, Mary, had the misfortune to run a crochet hook through her hand. The mother fainted away. Miss G. S. Ormerod, who supplied this information, concludes, “My Aunt Eleanor fetched her forceps, nipped off the hook and drew out the stem without waiting for the doctor’s arrival, showing not only her courage but her presence of mind.” The same authority goes on to say:—
“She was very fond of children and young people. When staying at Sedbury, we always enjoyed our walks with her. She made everything interesting. She taught me a great deal about insects, helped me to begin a collection of butterflies, &c., showing me how to destroy them mercifully and how to set them out properly. I remember stuffing a splendid dragon-fly under her superintendence.
“Fully occupied as her life was up to the time of her last illness, yet she was always full of sympathy and interest for her poorer neighbours, always ready to assist in any good work that came before her.
“You may like to hear how my aunt was beloved by the servants for her practical kindness and for the keen interest she took in all outdoor surroundings. Any curiosity discovered by them, whether animal or vegetable, was always carefully brought in for her inspection. Many were the snakes, birds, nests, insects, fungi, &c., handed to her, especially at the time when she did so much modelling.”
She maintained throughout a practical interest in the survivors of her mother’s old servants, and she extended her kindness and thoughtfulness to those of her own household. Her strong loyalty was curiously instanced on one of these occasions, on the King’s accession to the throne, when she summoned all her household, including outdoor servants, and produced some rare old white port in which they drank the King’s health. She subscribed liberally to St. Albans’ charities and other public objects in the Abbey parish in which she lived, as well as in St. Michael’s, where she attended church. Dr. Lipscomb gives, in a few words, “An instance of her great generosity, so well known to all who were intimate with her, though she ever did such deeds by stealth and blushed to find them fame.” He goes on: “I may mention a day she asked me to see her. Being rather late I apologised, telling her that the annual meeting of the governors of our local hospital detained me. She said she hoped we had had a successful meeting, and on my saying ‘Yes, with the exception that the accounts showed a deficit of some thirty odd pounds,’ she immediately produced her cheque book and gave me a cheque for the amount.” She also extended personal sympathy and practical help to many of her poor neighbours by whom she was loved and esteemed.
She never lost taste for the pastime of modelling in plaster of Paris, and at leisure moments, when unable to go out of doors, she would occupy spare time in this way. She modelled some beautiful specimens of common fruits and made the cast of her own hand. In the evening, when tired of writing, she would read or crochet. Her great skill in what is generally regarded as exclusively woman’s work is independently testified to by Miss Emma Swan, niece of Professor Westwood, who is so well able to speak with authority, in the following words: “What particularly struck me as a young girl at the time I visited her was the very beautiful needlework she found time to do, and pleasure in doing. Whatever she did, she seemed to do well!” From the same source we learn that “she sang and played the piano very well indeed.” She also composed music with facility and might have developed musical tastes, but for the overpowering love of science which was the absorbing interest of her life.[[43]]
We have it on excellent authority that the very greatest pleasure of all her public recognitions was experienced on April 14, 1900, in the McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, when the LL.D. of the University was conferred upon her in company with a group of distinguished recipients of that honour[[44]] before an assemblage of about 3,000 people. The trials of the occasion, which are described in her letters, were greatly lessened by the courtesy and kindness and whispered words of encouragement of his Excellency, the American Ambassador, who was placed beside her during the ceremonial, and preceded her in undergoing the ordeal of capping. In presenting her to the Vice-Chancellor (Principal Sir Wm. Muir) the Dean of the Faculty of Law (Sir Ludovic Grant) said, with his usual eloquence:—
“A duty now devolves upon you, sir, which has devolved upon none of your predecessors, and of which the performance will render the present occasion memorable in the annals of the University. Our roll of Hon. Graduates in Law contains the names of many illustrious men, but you will search it in vain for the name of a woman. To-day, however, a new roll is to be opened—a roll of illustrious women; and it is matter for congratulation that this roll should begin with a name so honoured as that of Miss Ormerod.
“The pre-eminent position which Miss Ormerod holds in the world of science is the reward of patient study and unwearying observation. Her investigations have been chiefly directed towards the discovery of methods for the prevention of the ravages of those insects which are injurious to orchard, field, and forest. Her labours have been crowned with such success, that she is entitled to be hailed as the protectress of agriculture and the fruits of the earth—a beneficent Demeter of the nineteenth century. It would take long to enumerate her contributions to Entomological and Phenological literature, but I may select for mention the valuable series of reports extending over twenty years, the preparation of which involved correspondence with all parts of the world. Remarkable, too, is the list of the honours which she has received. She was the first lady to be admitted a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, and she has been awarded the Silver Medal of the ‘Société Nationale d’Acclimatation’ of France. To these distinctions the University of Edinburgh, sensible of her conspicuous services, and not unmindful of her generous benefactions, now adds its Doctorate in Laws.”