Ethel Mary Elderton (1878–1954) was a British

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

researcher who worked with

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...

and

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English mathematician and biostatistician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university st ...

Biography

Elderton was born on 31 December 1878 in Fulham, London. Her father, William Alexander Elderton was a private tutor and her mother, Sarah Isabella, née Lapidge was school headmistress. The couple had eight children, of which Elderton was the third and the eldest girl. Her eldest brother was

William Palin Elderton Sir William Palin Elderton KBE PhD (Oslo) (1877–1962) was a British actuary who served as president of the Institute of Actuaries (1932–1934). Elderton also had a very long association with the statistical journal Biometrika. In its early days h ...

, a statistician who worked as an actuary and became head of Equitable Life Assurance Society. Elderton was educated at

Streatham High School Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey b ...

before studying at Bedford College in London. There she was taught by Alice Lee, who was also employed by

biostatistician Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experimen ...

, and became involved in the eugenics movement. She left without completing her studies in 1890, on the death of her father, and became a school teacher. In 1905 she resigned her teaching post to become

's assistant. Subsequently she became Galton Scholar and Fellow and Assistant Professor at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Love, R. (1979). ''“Alice in Eugenics-Land”: Feminism and Eugenics in the scientific careers of Alice Lee and Ethel Elderton''. Annals of Science, 36(2), 145–158. She retired in 1933, and died on 5 May 1954 having never married.

Writings

Elderton produced many reports, the most controversial of which argued that predisposition to

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

was largely inherited. She wrote ''Primer of Statistics'' in 1909 with her brother

, who had also worked for Pearson. She also wrote ''The Relative Strength of Nurture and Nature'' that same year. In 1910, she published two studies ''A First Study of the Influence of Parental Alcoholism on the Physique and Ability of the Offspring'' and ''A Second Study of the Influence of Parental Alcoholism on the Physique and Ability of the Offspring''. Then in 1914 she published a ''Report on the English Birthrate, Part I: England North of the Humber''. Elderton helped edit Pearson's 1925 work ''Annals of Eugenics''.

Biography

Writings

References

Further reading