Lily Chitty
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Lily Frances Chitty OBE FSA |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
20 March 1893 Lewdown, Devon, England |
| Died | 8 February 1979 (aged 85) Church Stretton, Shropshire, England |
| Cause of death | Hypothermia |
| Nationality | British |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Shrewsbury School of Art |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Archaeology |
| Sub discipline |
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Lily Frances "Lal" Chitty, OBE, FSA (20 March 1893 – 8 February 1979) was a British archaeologist and independent scholar, who specialised in the prehistoric archaeology of Wales and the west of England. She has been described as one of the "pioneers in the mapping of archaeological data".
Chitty was born on 20 March 1893 at Lewdown, Devon, England. She was the eldest child of the Reverend James Charles Martin Chitty (1865–1938) and Gwen Ethlin Georgiana Chitty (née Jones; 1861–1933). One of her two younger brothers was the archaeologist and priest Derwas Chitty. In 1899, James Chitty was appointed Rector of Hanwood, and so the family moved to Shropshire. She was educated at home, before attending the Shrewsbury School of Art between 1910 and 1915.
Chitty had intended to continue her artistic studies, but chose instead to train as a secretary in order to contribute to the war effort during the First World War. She then worked at the General Post Office in London for a short period of time, before serving as a member of the Women's Land Army in her home county of Shropshire for the rest of the war. The Women's Land Army was a civilian organisation created so that women, nicknamed the "Land Girls", could replace men working on farms who had been called up to the military.
After the end of the war, Chitty returned to the family home. Her father was made Rector of Yockleton, also in Shropshire, in 1920. During this time she developed her interest in archaeology and particularly in prehistoric artefacts. In 1924, she was appointed the Ordnance Survey's honorary correspondent for archaeology in Shropshire. In 1926, she also became the local contact for the Ancient Monuments Board. Having met Harold Peake, during 1927 she was tasked with "drawing bronze implements for the British Association". Around this time, she began to create an analytical card index of "national and local archaeological periodicals and other literature"; this would become an important database for professional archaeologists and students. Her artistic training meant that she was asked by Cyril Fox to draw the maps for his book The personality of Britain (1935); however, these were not acknowledged as her work until the third edition which was published in 1938.
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