Aeta Adelaide Lamb was born in 1886 to William and Adelaide Lamb — a British couple living in Demerara, British Guiana (on the north coast of South America).
Aeta’s father, a botanist, named her “after a palm he had discovered” in Demerara.
That palm was the fruit-bearing Mauritia flexuosa — which is known by various common names (e.g., aeta, ité, ita, buriti, muriti, aguaje) throughout South America. The tree grows abundantly in wetland and swamp habitats of the continent’s tropical lowlands.
Aeta returned to England with her family during childhood. She went on to become an active member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) — the militant women’s suffrage organization founded by Emmeline Pankhurst — from 1906 to 1913.
Sources:
- Crawford, Elizabeth. The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. London: Routledge, 2003.
- Aeta Lamb – Wikipedia
Image: Aeta Lamb Suffragette 1911 (public domain)
[Latest update: Mar. 2024]