Sir Henry Ellis was described as 'short and plump, with a broad, open face and full lips... industrious, learned, and helpful to scholars, genial, kind-hearted, and unfailingly calm and good-humoured'. He was, however, a conservative in a time of change and his comment that 'the mere gazing at our curiosities is not one of the objects of the Museum' (as told in the 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biography') reflects this attitude. A librarian, he joined the Museum in 1805 and was appointed Principal Librarian in 1827. He was only persuaded to retire in 1856 when, in the absence of a pension, the Trustees agreed to continue paying his full salary. The artist, Margaret Carpenter, was by contrast the leading female artist of her day. She was the first woman to be nominated for selection to the Royal Academy for 76 years but, as a woman, was refused entry.