Margaret Scott Gatty, children's author and seaweed collector, was born in Burnham, Essex, to Royal Navy chaplain Alexander John Scott and his wife. Alexander Scott had served under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Margaret Scott married the Rev. Alfred Gatty in 1839, moving to Ecclesfield in Yorkshire to live with him. Together they raised eight children and Margaret became a prolific children's author. Among the books she authored over the coming years were Parables from Nature (1855) (illustrated by Holman Hunt) and Worlds Not Realized (1856).

Gatty was also fascinated by marine life and published a History of British Seaweeds in 1872. She was inspired in this undertaking by the phycologist William Henry Harvey, whom she had first met in Hastings in 1848. Gatty collected a large volume of seaweed, much of it sent to her by correspondents from around the world. Among these were Robert Brown (1773-1858) and George Busk (1807-1886).

Sources:
S. Drain, 2004, "Gatty, Margaret (1809-1873)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn:
www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10454, accessed 20 January 2012
F. Evans, 2003, "Mrs Alfred Gatty (1809-1873), author of 'British Seaweeds'", The Phycologist, 65: 14-17
S. Le-May Sheffield, 2001, Revealing new worlds: three Victorian women naturalists.