A Chemical Passion: the Forgotten Story of Chemistry at British Independent Girls’ Schools, 1820S–1930S Appendices

A Chemical Passion: The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls’ schools, 1820s–1930s APPENDICES Marelene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham UCL Institute of Education Press First published in 2017 by UCL Institute of Education Press, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL www.ucl-ioe-press.com © 2017 Marelene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78277-195-1 (PDF) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the editors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCL Institute of Education. Typeset by Quadrant Infotech (India) Pvt Ltd Contents Note iv Appendix 1: Some chemistry books used at independent girls’ schools, 1880s–1920s 1 Appendix 2: Lives of some women chemistry teachers 4 Appendix 3: Lives of some pioneering women chemistry students 32 Appendix 4: The Girls’ Public Day School Company chemistry syllabus, 1896 51 Appendix 5: The Girls’ Public Day School Company chemistry syllabus, 1902 56 Appendix 6: Sophie Bryant’s courses of chemistry for girls, 1911 62 Appendix 7: Rose Stern’s courses of chemistry for girls, 1921 66 Appendix 8: AWST proposed course of chemistry for girls, 1932 71 iii Note This PDF (ISBN 978-1-78277-195-1), published by UCL IOE Press and made available as a free download, contains Appendices to the book A Chemical Passion: The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls’ schools, 1820s–1930s, by Marelene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham (London: UCL IOE Press, 2017). Although the information contained here is self-sufficient, the Appendices are intended to be read in conjunction with the book, which is available in the following formats: Paperback: ISBN 978-1-78277-188-3 PDF eBook: ISBN 978-1-78277-192-0 ePub eBook: ISBN 978-1-78277-193-7 Kindle eBook: ISBN 978-1-78277-194-4 iv Appendix 1 Some chemistry books used at independent girls’ schools, 1880s–1920s If the students at independent girls’ schools were studying chemistry, what textbooks were they using? What reference works did their school libraries hold? We have four separate sources of information, together with the names of the books and their authors. In chapter 4 we describe how, in 1884, the Girls’ Public Day School Company (GPDSC) circulated a list of chemistry texts that each GPDSC school was required to purchase for their school library (Anon., 1884: 16): The Chemistry of Common Life (J.F. Johnston) Chemistry for Schools (C. Haughton Gill) Science Primer: Chemistry (H.E. Roscoe) A Treatise on Chemistry. 5 vols (H.E. Roscoe and C. Schorlemmer) A Treatise on Practical Chemistry and Qualitative Inorganic Analysis Adapted for Use in the Laboratories of Colleges and Schools (F. Clowes) Exercises in Practical Chemistry (A.G. Vernon Harcourt and H.G. Madan) Elementary Chemistry (F.S. Barff) For the chemistry examination at Manchester High School for Girls in 1885, the following two texts were required reading (Archives, MHSG School Reports, 1890: n.p.): Elements of Chemistry: Organic chemistry (W.A. Miller) An Introduction to the Study of Chemical Philosophy: The principles of theoretical and systematic chemistry (W.A. Tilden) Then in chapter 3 we have included a poem written by a student at North London Collegiate School in 1913 that cited two of the texts she used (Allen, 1913: 31): 1 Marelene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham A Textbook of Inorganic Chemistry (G.S. Newth) The Elements of Inorganic Chemistry for Use in Schools and Colleges (W.A. Shenstone) Over the period 1913–28 the Roedean School science club regularly added chemistry books to their science library. Each newly acquired title was listed in the science club report in the next issue of the Roedean School Magazine. The titles and authors of the chemistry books are listed below, together with the issue date of the magazine in which that book is listed. Radium and Other Radio-Active Elements: A popular account treated experimentally (L.A. Levy and H.G. Willis) [1913] A Text-Book of Inorganic Chemistry (G. Senter) [Michaelmas 1914] The Scientific Foundations of Analytical Chemistry, Treated in an Elementary Manner (W. Ostwald) [Summer 1916] Modern Inorganic Chemistry (J.W. Mellor) [Lent 1916] Systematic Inorganic Chemistry from the Standpoint of the Periodic Law: A text-book for advanced students (R.M. Caven and G.D. Lander) [Lent 1916] The Chemistry of the Radio-Elements (F. Soddy) [1916] The Complete School Chemistry (F.M. Oldham) [Autumn 1919] Everyman’s Chemistry: The chemist’s point of view and his recent work told for the layman (E. Hendrick) [Autumn 1919] An Introduction to Chemical German (E.V. Greenfield) [June 1920] Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry (Lothar Meyer) [February 1922] An Introduction to Organic Chemistry (D.L. Hammick) [October 1922] Chemistry in the Service of Man (A. Findlay) [June 1923] Fundamental Principles of Organic Chemistry (C. Moureu and W.T.K. Braunholtz) [February 1923] The Chemistry of Colloids and Some Technical Applications (W.W. Taylor) [June 1924] Quantitative Chemical Analysis: Adapted for use in the laboratories of colleges and schools (F. Clowes and J.B. Coleman) [November 1925] Introduction to Physical Chemistry (J. Walker) [November 1925] Benn’s Sixpenny Library: Chemistry (P.E. Spielmann) [November 1927] Historical Introduction to Chemistry (T.M. Lowry) [November 1927] 2 Some chemistry books used at independent girls’ schools, 1880s–1920s Three Centuries of Chemistry: Phases in the growth of a science (I. Masson) [November 1927] Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and Some Mathematical Functions (G.W.C. Kaye and T.H. Laby) [November 1928] The Experimental Basis of Chemistry: Suggestions for a series of experiments illustrative of the fundamental principles of chemistry (Ida Freund, edited by A. Hutchinson and M.B. Thomas) [June 1928] References Allen, L.D. (1913) ‘In praise of The Searchlight’. The Searchlight: NLCS Science Club Magazine, 31–4. Anon. (1884) ‘List of books sanctioned for school libraries: Chemistry and physics’. Minutes of the Council and Committees, Reports of Examiners, &c. for 1884, Archives, Girls’ Public Day School Trust. 3 Appendix 2 Lives of some women chemistry teachers In chapter 5 we discuss the lives of the chemistry teachers in general terms. Though generalizations are important it is the individual life- stories by which we can more fully appreciate the many challenges faced by the chemistry-focused young women. The information we gleaned was fragmentary. For many of the teachers, school staff records provided details of education and teaching appointments. In the case of Oxbridge-educated teachers, the college registers added further facts. In some cases the school student magazines fleshed out the personalities of the women teachers, usually at the date of the teacher’s departure from that school and/or in obituaries. These biographical details are listed below alphabetically, with the name followed by a list of the schools where they taught. If any reader tracks down additional information we would be most grateful to receive it and will update the relevant biography with an acknowledgement to the contributor. Adamson, Mary M. Taught at: Princess Helena College; Bromley High School; Notting Hill High School; Portsmouth High School. Born in 1864, the daughter of a builder, Adamson was educated at Notting Hill High School, obtaining a scholarship to Bedford College. She recalled: When I entered Bedford College in 1882 on an Arnott Scholarship in Physics, founded in 1866, the students for a [London University] BA were numerous, and their way smooth, but the way of BSc students was still hard. They were only offering themselves in ones and twos, and classes to which they could get admission were few … By 1885 when I took my degree, the women BScs were still under a dozen, but their way too, soon became smooth, and in a few years Chemistry classes which had refused me had opened their doors to my pupils. (Adamson, 1932: 6–7) 4 Lives of some women chemistry teachers Adamson graduated from Bedford College in 1885, accepting a position teaching chemistry and physics courses at Princess Helena College which was then located in Ealing. In 1889 Adamson obtained an appointment at Bromley High School and presumably her replacement at Princess Helena School was Professor Newth (see chapter 5). The teaching experience at Bromley High School came as quite a trauma: ‘For Miss Heppel acting on her principle that “anybody can teach anything if they take the trouble,” had given the chemistry to her classical mistress and given me a big block of middle school history and elementary German and Latin’ (Adamson, 1937: 45). Fortunately for Adamson a chance encounter in 1890 changed her life. At the time, all of the London-area Girls’ Public Day School Company (GPDSC) schools had a common prize-giving held at the Crystal Palace. This involved 2,000 students and staff and 12,000 parents, relatives, and assorted dignitaries: All our mass prizegivings were similar: some singing under a well-known conductor, a few short speeches and a long line of girls making their cautious way to the royal prize-giver. But this one was memorable for me because it decided my whole future career.

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