Electrical engineer and suffragist. Born Phoebe Sarah Marks in Portsmouth. Aged 16 began teaching in London. Studied maths at Girton College Cambridge. Married William Ayrton in 1885. Elected a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899 and was the only woman member until 1958 (shame on them). In 1902 she was proposed for the Royal Society but this was blocked because a married woman had no standing in law and so was ineligible. Not surprisingly Hertha supported the militant suffragists and marched in all the suffrage protests, in academic gown, which, of course, she was not entitled to wear. Mrs Pankhurst and other hunger strikers were nursed in her home and Hertha declared herself "proud" when her daughter Barbara was imprisoned. Barbara went on to become an MP and to produce Michael Ayrton, the artist. Hertha died in Sussex.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Hertha Ayrton
Commemorated ati
Hertha Ayrton
Hertha Ayrton, 1854 - 1923, physicist, lived here, 1903 - 1923. English Herit...
Other Subjects
Priscilla Wakefield
Born Priscilla Bell in Tottenham. Quaker philanthropist and author of feminist economics, scientific subjects, travel, children's non-fiction. Best known book was 'The Juvenile Travellers' which ha...
Person, Children, Gender Issues, Race Issues, Social Welfare
Emily Wilding Davison
Militant suffragette. Born Roxburgh House, Vanbrugh Park Road, Greenwich (see Running Past for info about the house). Brought up in Hertfordshire until aged 11 when the family returned to London. H...
Bedford College for Women, University of London
Founded by Elizabeth Jesser Reid as the Ladies College, the first higher education college for women. In 1900 it became part of the University of London and in 1913 moved to larger purpose built p...
Dame Margery Irene Corbett Ashby
Liberal politician and internationalist. Born East Sussex. Secretary of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and later President of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance. The phot...
Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan
Prominent botanist and mycologist (fungi). Leader of the first women's army corps. Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, GBE During WW1 she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and...
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James Edmeston
Architect and prolific writer of church hymns (nearly 2000!). Born Wapping. Died Homerton where he was a church warden at St. Barnabas.
UCL - WW1
WC1, Gower Street, University College London
The original UCL, built 1825 - 1832, comprised this quad and its buildings, by the architect William Wilkins (1778 -1839).
Charles Wager
Born Rochester, Kent to a naval family. He entered the navy, rose to Rear-Admiral and was knighted 1709. Entered Parliament in 1713 and worked the rest of his life in the Board of Admiralty. Known ...
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