Alice Emily Smith
Alice Emily Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 June 1871 |
| Died | 1924(aged 53) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of North Wales,Bangor, Gwynedd |
| Known for | Signatory of the 1904 petition to the Chemical Society. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | University College of North Wales,Bangor, Gwynedd Owens College,Manchester |
Alice Emily Smith(18 June 1871 – 1924) was a British chemist and one of the nineteen signatories of the1904 petitionto theChemical Society.[1]
Early life and education
[edit]Smith was born 18 June 1871, the daughter of Thomas Smith, Commission Agent fromCounty Down,Northern Ireland.[2]
She was educated at Crescent House school inBedford.[2]She matriculated at theUniversity College of North Walesin 1897 and graduated with a B.Sc. (London) in 1901[2]before taking up work as a demonstrator there.
Smith was awarded an1851 exhibition scholarship[3][2]and chose to use it to conduct research atOwens College,Manchesterfrom 1901 to 1903.[1]Whilst at Owens College, she worked with bothWilliam Henry Perkin Jr.and K. J. P. Orton.[4]
Smith's research with Perkins resulted in four important research papers being published on structure determinations and new synthetic routes inorganic chemistrybetween 1902 and 1904.[4][5]
Career
[edit]In 1903, Smith returned to the University College of North Wales as an Assistant Lecturer in Organic Chemistry[1]and Assistant Lecturer in Education.[2]During this period, Smith was one of only five women chemists to receive Chemical Society Research Fund grants between 1902 and 1910.[4]
While working at Bangor, she collaborated with Head of Chemistry, ProfessorKennedy J.P. Orton,on a study of reaction mechanisms from 1905 to 1908 which resulted in the publishing of five research papers.[1][2]Orton was a strong supporter of the rights of women chemists so may have made Smith aware of the1904 petition to the Chemical Society.[1]
The 1904 petition to the Chemical Society
[edit]In 1904, Smith, along with eighteen other British women chemists, signed a petition setting out their reasons to the Chemical Society why they should be afforded Fellowship status like their male counterparts. The petition eventually led to the admission of women as Fellows of the Society[6](one of the Societies that amalgamated to become theRoyal Society of Chemistry), as well as identifying prominent female chemists working in Britain at this time.
Later life
[edit]In 1914, Smith gave up her position at University College and took up a new role as lecturer in Science at theMaria Grey Training Collegein London, the first teachers' training college for women.[2]In 1917, she left the college to become a research chemist at Cooper's Laboratory. In 1920, she returned to teaching, becoming head of Heathfield Boarding School for Girls,[7]a private school atIlkley,West Yorkshire.[8]: 256 She ran the school with Margaret Raad until they dissolved their business partnership on 25July 1923.[9]On Christmas Day 1923,[10]Smith was declared bankrupt with estimated debts of nearly £4,700 (equivalent to £339,000 in 2023).[11]She died in the following year.[12]
References
[edit]- ^abcdeRayner-Canham, Geoff (2003)."Pounding on the Doors: The Fight for Acceptance of British Women Chemists"(PDF).Bull. Hist. Chem.28(2): 110–119.
- ^abcdefgRayner-Canham, Marelene F.; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey (2008).Chemistry was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880-1949.World Scientific.ISBN9781860949869.
- ^Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey;Harvey, Joy Dorothy(2000).The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z.Taylor & Francis.ISBN9780415920407.
- ^abcCreese, Mary R. S. (1991)."British Women of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Who Contributed to Research in the Chemical Sciences".The British Journal for the History of Science.24(3): 275–305.doi:10.1017/s0007087400027370.JSTOR4027231.PMID11622943.
- ^Ogilvie, Marilyn; Harvey, Joy (2003-12-16).The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: Pioneering Lives From Ancient Times to the Mid-20th Century.Routledge.ISBN9781135963422.
- ^Mason, Joan (1991). "A forty years' war".Chemistry in Britain:233–238.
- ^"Heathfield Boarding School for Girls".The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer.Leeds. 7 July 1923. p. 1.ISSN0963-1496.OCLC18793101.Retrieved6 January2023– viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
- ^Rayner-Canham, Marelene F; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey William (2020)."7. Universities in Scotland and Wales".Pioneering British Women Chemists: Their Lives and Contributions(2nd ed.). London:World Scientific Publishing Europe.pp. 217–258.ISBN978-1-78634-770-1.OCLC1124793258.Retrieved6 January2023.
- ^"The Companies Acts, 1908 to 1917".No. 32857.The London Gazette.28 August 1923. pp. 5870–5871.OCLC1013393168.063.Archivedfrom the original on 6 January 2023.Retrieved6 January2023.
- ^"The Bankruptcy Act, 1914. From The London Gazette. Receiving Orders".No. 13982.The Edinburgh Gazette.25 December 1923. p. 1755.OCLC1179455103.Archivedfrom the original on 6 January 2023.Retrieved6 January2023.
- ^"Miss Alice Emily Smith, of Heathfield, Ilkley".Sheffield Daily Telegraph.6 February 1924. p. 6.OCLC17991386.Retrieved24 August2023– viaBritish Newspaper Archive.
- ^"Part I. List of Science Research Scholars Appointed Between the Years 1891 and 1921".Record of the Science Research Scholars of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (1891–1960)(5th ed.). London:Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.1961. p. 28.OCLC38642733.SB/10/55.Retrieved6 January2023– viaWellcome Collection.
In the Sydney Brenner collection.