Maria Ann Smith – known as Granny Smith – the creator of the green “Granny Smith” apple, died in the colony of New South Wales, Australia on the 9th of March, 1870.
In 1868 Smith was handed a box of French crab apples from Tasmania at a market in Sydney. After she used them for baking, she discovered a seed in the discarded peels had sprouted in a compost heap. She continued to tend it in its place near a creek.
After her death the property’s new owner marketed the fruit as “Granny Smith”.
Smith married in England, having eight children (who survived early childhood) before emigrating to Australia in 1838.