Theresa Clay

Theresa Rachael Clay attended St. Paul's Girl's School, London. She earned her B.Sc. in 1938, and was awarded a D.Sc. in 1955 by the University of Edinburgh. Clay worked independently until 1938 when she became an Unofficial Worker at the Natural History Museum. In 1949, she was officially appointed as a Temporary Staff Member responsible for the Mallophaga, Anoplura, and Apterygota. She was promoted to Senior Scientific Officer in 1952. Clay collected lice in India and Pakistan in 1951, the Western Himalayas in 1957, Trinidad and British Guiana [Guyana] in 1961, and Malaysia in 1974. In 1970 she was appointed Deputy Keeper. She retired in 1975. Theresa Clay never used her middle name or initial on any publication or professional correspondence. She married R. G. Searight in 1975. Most of the scientific illustrations within Clay's publications were by Arthur Smith (26 Jan. 1916 - 23 Oct. 1991). He was a scientific illustrator at the British Museum (Natural History) from 1940 until his retirement in 1973. During this period he estimated that he completed between 15 and 20K illustrations of insects and other animals. A detailed obituary was published in Ent. mon. Mag. 128: 173.