A sea anemone: I have pronounced their name incorrectly most of my life | Helen Sullivan

Victorian craze for home aquariums swept London in the 1850s , with people taking animals from the seaside and making miniature rock pools at home in large glass enclosures or pie dishes.

Among the people who loved the idea that you could create a rock pool at home was Mary Ann Evans who wrote as George Eliot .

She and her partner, the philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes , spent two summers hunting sea anemones in the town of Ilfracombe .

I like looking at anemones, too. - Helen Sullivan is a Guardian journalist. She is writing a book for Scribner Australia - Do you have an animal, insect or other subject you’d like to see profiled by this columnist? Email [email protected].