Georgina Kermode MIM (1868 – 5 September 1923) was a suffragette, metallurgist, engineering entrepreneur and holder of numerous patents.

Biography

Kermode was born Georgina Elizabeth Fawns in

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, United Kingdom in 1868, daughter of the Rev. J. Fawns, of Launceston. Her family were from

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and when she was seventeen Kermode married another Tasmanian landowner Robert Crellin Kermode. She lived in Mona Vale, known as ''Calendar house'' probably as a result of its 12 chimneys. By the time she was twenty seven Kermode had become an active suffragette and ran the

Campbell Town Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823. History Traditional owners of the Campbell Town area The traditional custodians of the Campbell Town area were t ...

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

. Kermode became the Colonial Suffrage Superintendent of the WCTU. She organised propaganda to put pressure on politicians and in 1896 she arranged a winter campaign of meetings and petitions all over Tasmania. She worked with

Jessie Rooke Jessie Spink Rooke (10 September 1845 – 4 January 1906) was a suffragette and temperance reformer in Tasmania, Australia, and one of the first Tasmanian women to gain recognition outside Tasmania. Life Jessie Rooke was born in London on Septe ...

. Her husband held mining interests and Kermode became a director of the ''Tasmanian Metals Extraction Co. Ltd.'' She became an expert in the metal ores of Tasmania. The business had technical difficulties in reaching the metals and Kermode travelled to England to gain expertise in the electrolytic extraction for the treatment of the zinc-lead ores in about 1904. Kermode did not return to Australia. Her husband did travel to the UK when he joined the army in 1914. From 1907 to 1923 Kermode took out patents for a variety of inventions. There were 27 across the

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and the

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. Her main inventions related to the automatic vending of postage stamps. The UK post office bought her automatic machines and the very first of them was put in

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

. They were in place until 1920. One of the advantages of her machines was the improved ability to detect counterfeit coins. Other patents were for improvements in furnaces, breathing apparatus for firefighters and divers, and a diving suit. When she was elected to the

Institute of Metals The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a UK engineering institution whose activities encompass the whole materials cycle, from exploration and extraction, through characterisation, processing, forming, finishing and applicatio ...

on 21 December 1916 Kermode became the first woman to be a member. She was a regular attendee at institute events and was involved in other mining organisations. She died in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and was taken to Tasmania to be buried.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kermode, Georgina 1868 births 1923 deaths British women engineers Engineers from London British inventors People from Chipping Barnet People from Tasmania