Early Life and Background Mary Anning was born on May 21, 1799, in Lyme Regis, a small coastal town in Dorset, England. This town, part of the Jurassic Coast, is known for its rich deposits of Jurassic fossils. Mary was the fifth of ten children born to Richard and Mary Anning, although only two of her siblings survived to adulthood. The Anning family was poor, and they supplemented their income by selling fossils to tourists. From a young age, Mary displayed a keen interest in fossils, a passion likely inherited from her father, a cabinetmaker who also collected fossils. The family’s financial struggles meant that Mary had limited formal education,…