Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, (née Fraser; 21 January 1879 – 26 August 1967) was a prominent English botanist and mycologist. During the First World War, she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and then as Commandant of the

Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...

(WRAF) from 1918 to 1919. During the Second World War, from 1939 to 1941, she served as Chief Controller of the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

(ATS).

Early life and education

Helen Charlotte Isabella Fraser was born on 21 January 1879 in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. She was the elder daughter of Army Captain

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Arthur Hay David Fraser (1852-1884; son of

Alexander Fraser, 18th Lord Saltoun Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

), and Lucy Jane (died 1939), daughter of Major Robert Duncan Fergusson, of the Rifle Brigade and the Royal Ayrshire and Wigton Rifle militia. Lucy Fraser was a novelist and extra lady-in-waiting to HRH

Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...

; in 1887, having been widowed, she remarried, to diplomat Francis Hay-Newton. Due to her stepfather's career, Fraser spent a large amount of her youth living abroad and was educated mainly by governesses. From 1895 to 1896, she was educated at

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to p ...

, an all-girls

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

boarding school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. In 1899, she attended the ladies' department of

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...

to study for the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

entrance exams. However, she stayed on at King's College as one of its first female students to study

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

. She was awarded the Carter Medal in 1902, and graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

(BSc) degree in 1904. She also studied under Margaret Jane Benson, head of the Department of Botany at Royal Holloway College. She was awarded a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

(DSc) degree in 1907.

Career

Academic career

Having completed her bachelor's degree, she spent 1904 working as a demonstrator for mycologist V. H. Blackman 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 = � ...

. She moved to

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

in 1905 as a demonstrator to botanist Margaret Jane Benson. She was promoted to

assistant lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in 1906. In 1907, she was awarded a D.Sc. degree for her research into fungal reproduction, and she was appointed a lecturer in botany at University College, Nottingham. In 1909, she was named head of the botany department at

Birkbeck College, London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

. From 1917 to 1919, she took a break from academia to serve during the First World War. In 1920 she applied for the Regius Professor of Botany at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

; she was not successful. Instead, she returned to Birkbeck College and was appointed

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Botany in 1921. She continued her studies on fungal genetics. She was Head of Department from 1921 to 1939 and again from 1941 to 1944. She retired from full-time academia in 1944 and was appointed

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

by the University of London.

Military service

In 1917, she was appointed Controller of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in France, alongside

Mona Chalmers Watson Alexandra Mary Chalmers Watson CBE, (née Geddes; 31 May 1872 – 7 August 1936), known as Mona Chalmers Watson, was a British physician and head of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. The first woman to receive an MD from the University of Edin ...

, Chief Controller of the WAAC in London For her service she was the first woman to be awarded a military DBE in January 1918. She served reluctantly as Commandant of the

(WRAF) from September 1918 until December 1919. Gwynne-Vaughan was first made Chief Controller of the

(ATS) in 1939. This was a role that Mary Baxter Ellis had turned down as she preferred to lead the volunteer First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANYs). Ellis agreed however to supply 1500 women to serve with the ATS as long as the rest of the FANY could be independent. This was agreed but Gwynne-Vaughan broke the agreement and forced the FANY to be absorbed. Gwynne-Vaughan held the role to 1941.

Other work

Gwynne-Vaughan was interested in politics. While she was at Royal Holloway College she and

Louisa Garrett Anderson Louisa Garrett Anderson, CBE (28 July 1873 – 15 November 1943) was a medical pioneer, a member of the Women's Social and Political Union, a suffragette, and social reformer. She was the daughter of the founding medical pioneer Elizabeth Gar ...

co-founded the University of London Suffrage Society. In 1926 she spoke as part of a National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship meeting. She stood in the

1922 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 2 March 1922. It was the eleventh triennial election of the whole council. There were sixty dual member constituencies and one four member constituency, making a total of 124 seats. The ...

as a

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

councillor for Camberwell North; she was not elected. She stood as the Unionist parliamentary candidate for Camberwell North in the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, and 1924 General Elections. She lost by 254 votes in 1922, by 4686 in 1923, and by 3736 in 1924. She was also active in

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

and was honoured with the

Silver Fish The Silver Fish Award is the highest adult award in Girlguiding. It is awarded for outstanding service to Girlguiding combined with service to world Guiding. The award has changed greatly since it first appeared in 1911, initially being awarde ...

. In 1930, Gwynne-Vaughan chaired the Guides' Sixth World Conference. At this conference, the constitution of the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and has its ...

was agreed and

Olave Baden-Powell Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...

was unanimously voted World Chief Guide. After her retirement in 1944 she was the full-time honorary secretary of the London branch of the Soldiers', Sailors' and Air Force Association until 1962.

Personal life

In 1911, she married

David Thomas Gwynne-Vaughan Prof David Thomas Gwynne-Vaughan FRSE Linnean Society, FLS MRIA (12 March 1871 – 4 September 1915) was a 20th-century Welsh botanist and botanopalaeolontologist, specialising in fossilised plants (especially ferns). Life He was born on 12 March ...

FRSE FLS (1871–1915), whom she had succeeded as head of the botany department at Birkbeck College, London. Her husband died from tuberculosis after four years of marriage, and they did not have any children.

Honours and distinctions

In the 1919 King's Birthday Honours, Gwynne-Vaughan was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) "in recognition of distinguished services rendered during the War", and was therefore granted the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

'' Dame''. In the 1929 King's Birthday Honours, she was promoted to Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) "for public and scientific services". She was elected to the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1905 and awarded its Trail Medal in 1920. She was the president of the

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Field ...

in 1928. Fungal species named in her honour include '' Palaeoendogone gwynne-vaughaniae'' and '' Pleurage gwynne-vaughaniae''.

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

unveiled a blue plaque in Gwynne-Vaughan's honour in March 2020, placed on the house on Bedford Avenue in Bloomsbury London, where she lived for nearly 50 years.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwynnevaughan, Helen English botanists British mycologists Female army generals 1879 births 1967 deaths Women botanists Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Girlguiding Scouting pioneers Women's Royal Air Force officers British Army generals of World War II Auxiliary Territorial Service officers Recipients of the Silver Fish Award Place of birth missing Place of death missing Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Alumni of King's College London People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College English people of Welsh descent Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates 20th-century British botanists British Army major generals Military personnel from London 20th-century British women scientists People from Westminster Academics of University College London Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Academics of the University of Nottingham Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps officers