Lucy May Cranwell (7 August 1907 – 8 June 2000) was a New Zealand botanist responsible for groundbreaking work in palynology. Cranwell was appointed curator of botany at Auckland Museum in 1929, when she was 21 years old. As well as her work on ancient pollen samples she was responsible for encouraging a love of botany in a generation of Auckland children.
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Early life and education
Cranwell was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1907. She grew up in Henderson, on an orchard at the conjunction of the Ōpanuku and Oratia streams. Cranwell states her initial interest in science and botany was supported by Henry Charles Swan. Swan had a small orchard in Henderson and experimented with propagation to combat orchard pests. She was strongly influenced by her conservation-minded and artistic mother. It has been suggested that Cranwell inherited the unpredictable aspects of her fearless and adventuresome spirit from her mother's Cornish roots. Her father was a trained nurseryman who had planted an extensive orchard in the family property. She attended Henderson public school, and attended Epsom Girls Grammar School from 1921 to 1923. She entered the University of Auckland in 1925 where she undertook an initial BA degree that was a mixture of English and botany, followed by a master's in botany with a thesis on the epiphytes of the Waitākere Ranges. She graduated in 1929.