Loggia exhibition March 2020

Somerville and early women’s science education

Somerville and women’s science education

Somerville was founded in 1879 and named after Mary Somerville, for whom the term scientist (in its modern context) was coined (Quarterly Review Vol. 51 Issue 101, March 1834, in William Whewell’s review of On the connexion of the physical sciences).

The college has some of Mary Somerville’s books, papers and other items, and on display is her pseudoscope (a binocular optical instrument that reverses depth perception) and instructions on its use. Next to it is a photo of Oxford scientists with apparatuses: we are unsure of a precise date and several of the names, but Jane Kirkaldy is in the centre.

Degrees were not awarded to women until 1920, and access to lectures, libraries and labs was extremely limited, but the Clothworkers Company (who long supported Somerville) gave £35 a year for 3 years for a scholarship for, if possible, “proficiency in natural science”. On display is the letter from Owen Roberts, of the company, and minutes of Somerville Committee detailing the gift.

The first recipient of this scholarship was Mary Watson (her entry in the college register is on display), who (as 1 of only 2 of the initial 12 students that completed three years) was the first woman to take a first in Geology, in 1882, and would also take a second in Chemistry in 1883.

Access to lectures began to open up in 1880, when A.G. Vernon Harcourt, Professor in Chemistry (whose wife was on Somerville Council and who himself was part of the Committee created to set up what would become Somerville Hall), refused to repeat lectures simply in order to maintain the separation of the sexes: this led to women being allowed into lectures in certain subjects, but always accompanied by a chaperone (this was required until 1893, but remained common until the Great War).

Margaret Seward (later McKillop) came up in 1881, before women had access to Honour Schools in any subject: when access to HS in maths and chemistry was opened up in 1884, she took a second in maths, followed by a first in chemistry in 1885 – the first woman to achieve either thing. She remained as tutor until 1887 when tempted away by Royal Holloway and in 1896 was the first woman appointed lecturer in chemistry at King’s College, London; despite being widely regarded as an excellent lecturer she was nevertheless replaced by a man in 1914 – an indication that whilst access to education and academic positions for women in the sciences was improving, it remained precarious. She would later be awarded the MBE for her wartime work on nutrition; sadly, we don’t have a copy of that work, but on display is her treatise on economics aimed at “the highest form in schools” (preface, page v), and at allowing students at girls’ schools to learn about the subject more thoroughly, as an aid to passing the Oxford or Cambridge Higher Local Examinations before studying Political Economy. Her co-author is fellow lecturer at KCL at the time, Mabel Atkinson.

As tutor Seward acted as a chaperone to Florence Rich, to allow her to have access to the lab, as the latter was the only female student taking her course. Rich came up in 1884 on a Clothworkers’ scholarship, applying on the basis of the strength of her zoology learnt at school but, not wanting the publicity of being the first woman to take the course in animal morphology (not yet open to women), she instead studied chemistry. She soon became slightly disillusioned at the requirements placed upon her before being allowed to study any actual chemistry (as detailed in her Recollections): keeping up with French and German in order to pass the qualifying exam at the end of her first year instead occupying her time. The nature of Oxford’s treatment of women students she found slightly amateurish (after the organised nature of the teaching at her school – see pages from Recollections), recalling, for example, that when sitting her preliminary exam in chemistry in the Principal’s lodgings at Hertford she was interrupted by the butler bringing in tea. She still achieved a second in 1887 and went in to teaching, before returning to research in botany in 1923. Like Seward, she would be a “steamboat lady” and claim a degree from Dublin University. In 1937 she received a testamur (document stating that you had satisfied the examiners) from Oxford and is indicative of Oxford’s attitude to women taking degrees:

“The University did not recognise the existence of women candidates and my examiners only obtained a form from the clerk by leading him to suppose they had spoilt one of those with which he had supplied them. It was of course in Latin, and I heard there was some discussion as to the correct rendering of my name – should it be Florentia or Firenze? But the difficulty was overcome when they realised that my first name was Mary, and the testamur is headed ‘Rich, Maria F.’”

After Rich decided not to try for animal morphology, two Somerville students did nonetheless become the first to take honours schools in it: Catherine Pollard (1888-1891) and Jane Kirkaldy (1887-1891) are pictured here in an article in the periodical The Graphic of July 4 1891.

Catherine Pollard (another Clothworkers’ scholar) came up in 1888 after a year at Holloway College, London and her account of how animal morphology was opened up to women indicates how precarious the position of women scientists was at Oxford: the professor in charge (who was opposed to allowing women onto the course and into the lab) suddenly became ill, and his temporary replacement was “ardent” to help Pollard and Kirkaldy, thus allowing them to undertake the course; by the time the professor was replaced (by another man not keen on women studying), they were already quite far along and were “suffered” to continue. Because Oxford didn’t offer a degree and Pollard regarded it as necessary for her further career in teaching (which her unpublished biography makes quite clear was always her aim), she also studied for the London zoology course: she took a first at Oxford and a third at London. Her account indicates just how hard women had to work to gain acceptance onto a course and then complete it. She would then work for what would become the University of Reading, and was awarded an MBE for her war work (running a hospital).

Jane Kirkaldy also took a first in animal morphology, and was then tutor in science from 1894-1930 (both the college and the university have prizes named after her): when she retired the need for more science tutors for the women’s colleges had become very apparent, and she recommended that there be a fellow in science at each, to cover the load of teaching across them: an indication that things were still difficult in the sciences. This fact is borne out by the documents here: the first is her certificate from Somerville, the second her certificate for having taken a first in the Honours School of Natural Science (Animal Morphology) – this quite clearly points to her not being a member of the University – and the last is a letter to Miss Penrose detailing the severe lack of women researching in the sciences, and points to the obvious reason: lack of positions and lack of funding.

As when Kirkaldy and Pollard snuck on to the animal morphology course, women science students had to show enterprise, for example in setting up various societies. Shown is the front cover of the first issue of the journal of the college’s Scientific and Philosophical Society, founded in 1892: a select group of science students set up a small museum of curiosities and scientific objects and held meetings at which an introductory essay was followed up by appropriate experiments or practical demonstrations. Their great coup (before dissolving in 1897), was to secure Prof. Poulton (the new Hope Professor of Zoology) to lecture on ‘Mimicry in Animals’, in what was effectively his first lecture in post.

The lack of opportunity for research was difficult to remedy, but two early Somervillian recipients of support were Florence Isaac (Mary Somerville Research Fellow, 1906-9) and Mary (Polly) Porter (Lady Carlisle Research Fellow 1919-29).

Isaac worked on mineralogy, and on display are 2 reviews detailing the importance to the field of the work undertaken whilst she was Research Fellow (on spontaneous crystallisation of binary mixtures).

Despite the Lady Carlisle fellowship not being as generously endowed as had initially been intended, Porter described it as “the best fellowship in the country for women”. She too worked and published widely on crystallography (with Henry Miers, whose biography she wrote), and can be seen as the link between Miers and Isaac and the first generation of X-ray crystallographers, which includes Dorothy Hodgkin (who had been taught at Somerville by Jane Kirkaldy), who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964, [and about whom more can be seen in Green Hall]

All of the items are from the college archives and library, and some are reproduced here as the originals are too delicate to put on display