Annette Ashberry (9 March 1894 – 2 September 1990), also known as Anne Ashberry, was a British engineer, gardener and author, and the first woman elected to the

Society of Engineers The Society of Engineers was a British learned society established in 1854. It was the first society to issue the professional title of Incorporated Engineer. It merged with the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) in 2005, and in 2006 the me ...

Early life

Annette Ashberry was born in Hackney on 9 March 1894 to Israel and Leah Annenberg, part of a large Jewish immigrant family from Russia. She had six brothers and five sisters. Her father changed their surname from Annenberg to Ashberry in response to the anti-German sentiment which built ahead of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Engineering career

Like many women, Ashberry worked on

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

during the First World War. She began her career in engineering in 1916, inspecting fuses in a factory. She had a keen interest in engineering which led to her working for

British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...

dealing with

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

s. Ashberry joined the Galloway Engineering Company's (mainly female staffed)

Tongland Tongland is a small village about north of Kirkcudbright, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies on the west bank of the Dee near its confluence with the Tarff Water. History Tongland ...

factory near

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The town lies southwest of C ...

and became the Secretary of the Tongland Branch of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

(WES), which was formed in 1919 following a visit of the first WES secretary

Caroline Haslett Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett DBE, JP (17 August 1895 – 4 January 1957) was an English electrical engineer, electricity industry administrator and champion of women's rights. She was the first secretary of the Women's Engineering Society a ...

. Ashberry and fellow

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

Engineering Company engineer Dora Turner wrote about their views of the future of women in engineering, including the question "Would it not be possible for other firms to build and equip factories especially for women labour?". The end of hostilities brought a slowdown in her career opportunities, and Ashberry began studying for a BSc in engineering at Loughborough Technical College. The newly formed

then encouraged her to open an engineering factory which focused on employing women. In 1920, Ashberry founded Atalanta Ltd in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

, along with Rachel Parsons,

, Lady Eleanor Shelley-Rolls, Dora Turner, and

Herbert Schofield Herbert Schofield , PhD, (8 December 1882 – 18 September 1963) was a leading figure in technical education, a Rotarian and, from 1915 to 1950, a Principal of Loughborough College, which became Loughborough University. Biography Herbert Schofie ...

, the head of Loughborough Technical College. After installing power to their basic premises, the women produced hand scraped surface plates and oil burners. After facing problems securing payments from customers, they reduced staff to just Annette and one other woman, and moved premises to London in hope of establishing business contacts there. In 1922, they moved to

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

, London, and started to see successes. The same year Ashberry won a prize from the

for the design of a dishwasher and obtained her first patent for a vegetable peeler. In 1925, Ashberry was the first woman to be elected to the

and delivered the first address by a woman to the Society's members on 1 November 1926.

Gardening career

By 1937, Ashberry had closed Atalanta Ltd. for business and moved into an entirely different field of work: miniature gardens. She started a business in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

producing landscapes in ordinary window boxes which she sold to elderly and disabled gardeners and those living in flats. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

brought a necessary return to engineering for Ashberry, but in 1945 she was able to purchase a cottage in

Chignall Smealy Chignal Smealy is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Chignall, on the north-western outskirts of Chelmsford, Essex, England. The local church (St. Nicholas) is a red brick building, containing an unusual red brick bapti ...

and resume her miniature gardening business. In this field she was better known as Anne Ashberry and became famous for her nursery and designs. She exhibited at

Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...

s, The Festival of Britain Exhibition and on television. She published 7 books, starting with ''Miniature Gardens'' in 1952. A film about miniature gardens featuring Ashberry was made by British Pathé in 1952. Other notable books included ''Bottled Garden and Fern Cases'' (1964) and ''Alpine Lawns'' (1966). Ashberry died in Chelmsford, Essex on 2 September 1990, aged 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashberry, Annette 1894 births 1990 deaths British women engineers 20th-century British engineers 20th-century British women British horticulturists Women's Engineering Society Jewish engineers