Rachel Parsons (engineer)

Rachel Parsons (1885–1956), engineer and advocate for women's employment rights, was the founding President of the Women's Engineering Society^[1] in Britain.^[2]

Early life

Rachel Mary Parsons was born in 1885, to Sir Charles Algernon Parsons and his wife Katherine (d. 1933), the daughter of William Froggatt Bethell of Rise Park, East Riding of Yorkshire.^[3] Her brother Algernon George (Tommy) (b. 1886 or 1887) was killed on 28 April 1918 while a Major in the Royal Field Artillery.^[2] Her interest and aptitude for engineering and science was fostered from a young age by the engineering tradition in her family including her grandmother Mary Rosse and grandfather William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse. Her father invented the steam turbine and developed successful international engineering businesses. The family lived on Tyneside (Elvaston Hall, Ryton and, later, Holeyn Hall, Wylam). ^[2] She was educated at Newcastle High, Wycombe Abbey, Clarence House (May 1899 - April 1900) and finally Roedean from 1900 - 1903. ^[4] In 1910 she entered Newnham College at the University of Cambridge and was one of the first three women to study Mechanical Sciences there, although she, like all women until 1948, could not graduate with a degree or become a full member of the University. Nevertheless she was able to add theoretical knowledge to the practical skills she had already obtained at her father's factory. She left in 1912 having taken the preliminary examination for Part I of the Tripos and a qualifying examination in Mechanical Sciences in 1911.^[2]

When the First World War broke out, she replaced her brother as a director on the board of their father's Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company based at Wallsend on Tyne. In particular, she oversaw the recruitment and training of women to replace the men who had left to join the armed forces. She became a leading member of the National Council of Women, and campaigned for equal access for all to technical schools and colleges, regardless of gender.^[4]

Post-First-World-War life

Following her brother's death, her father would not let her continue in a role in the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company. This caused a lifelong rift between them.^[2] As evidence of her continued aspirations in engineering she became a member of The Royal Institution of Great Britain, in 1918, continuing to be a member until she died. ^[2] She, and her mother, were among the founders of the Women's Engineering Society that promoted retention of women engineers after the end of the First World War as well as supporting engineering as a career for women. Rachel Parsons became its first president (1919 - 1921). ^[1] This organisation has become an enduring legacy of the UK's wartime National Council of Women. She became a lifelong member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs from 1921 and of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in 1922. ^[2] She also had a Master Mariner's Certificate.

In 1920 she was one of a group of eight women who founded the engineering company Atalanta Ltd, with her mother as Chairman ^[5] and one of the principal shareholders. All the employees were women. The company produced surface plates and machine models. It was initially located in Loughborough where it was intended that the employees could receive further education at the Loughborough Technical College.^[6] It was then moved to London with premises initially in Fulham Road in 1922 and then Brixton Road in 1925. It was voluntarily wound up in 1928.^[2]

In 1922 she set up her own home in 5, Portman Square, London and began to host social events attended by the elite of London society. She became an elected member of the London County Council for Finsbury in 1922 and sat on the Electricity and Highways Committee.^[7] She stood for Parliament in the 1923 election as the Conservative candidate in the constituency of Ince, Lancashire but was not elected. ^[2][8] She moved to the larger property of 5 Grosvernor Square in 1926 and continued as a society hostess. She put herself forward for selection as the Conservative candidate for Newcastle in 1940, but was not successful. ^[2]

In 1940 she moved into the countryside at Sunningdale, Berkshire, purchasing 'Little Court’, a Georgian-style house with twenty-five acres of land. However, she also maintained a London residence, moving successively to two houses in Belgrave Square. Her interest in horse racing led her to buy the 2600 acre Branches Park estate stud farm at Cowlinge near Newmarket, Suffolk, in the 1940s where she built up a stable of 73 horses, as well as in 1954 purchasing the Lansdowne House racing stable in Falmouth Avenue, Newmarket. She had several notable successes from her stables. These included wins in 1953 with Cavalleria, Golden God and Fraise Melba (trained by Geoffrey Brooke) followed by success with Le Dieu D'Or, Golden God and Fraise Melba under trainer Sam Armstrong. ^[2][9][10]

Death

She was found dead on 2 July in 1956 and an ex-employee stableman Dennis James Pratt was convicted of her manslaughter.^[11][2][12]

References