Henrietta (Hettie) Langdale Bussell (19 February 1917 – December 1996) was Britain's first female

railway engineer Railway engineering is a multi-faceted engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and operation of all types of rail transport systems. It encompasses a wide range of engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, comput ...

. She served as the president of the Women's Engineering Society from 1976 to 1977.

Early life and education

Bussell was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, but moved to Newport, Monmouthshire at age 12 with her family. There she won a scholarship to attend a new grammar school in

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

where she developed a love for maths and physics.

Finding work

Bussell left school in 1933 during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, a time where it was difficult to find work. She sat a Civil Service entrance exam in 1934, where she did not gain one of the 4 vacancies on offer to 2,000 testers. That same year, she came 2nd in an exam to join

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

, where only the first place recipient claimed entry to the company. However, Great Western Railway soon after had a vacancy in Cardiff in the Drawing Office, part of the Civil Engineering Department. Bussell contacted the company to remind them of her 2nd place exam finish. From this, she was able to gain a position as a tracer in August 1934.

Career and interests

In 1942, the GWR Chief Civil Engineer appointed Bussell as Junior Technical Staff as Draughtsman (female). Bussell transferred to British Rail, where she was promoted to various roles: * Assistant Draughtsman in 1948 * Technical Assistant in 1957 * Engineering Assistant in 1966 * Senior Engineering Assistant in 1971 Bussell was a member of the British Railway's Management Staff. Bussell had a great interest in tunneling works, particularly the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

Advocacy for women in engineering

Bussell was an advocate for getting women involved in engineering. Bussell joined the Women’s Engineering Society in 1951 and became an active member in the London branch. She joined the Society's council in 1961 before becoming President from 1976–77, succeeding Gwendolen 'Bunty' Sergant and being succeeded by Veronica Milligan. She attended the second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists conference in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1967, where amongst other things, she was taught how to wear a sari by Indian engineer K. K. Khubchandani alongside fellow WES members and engineers

Rose Winslade Rosina Winslade (22 July 1919 – 16 December 1981) was a British engineering manager who became President of the Women's Engineering Society and a governor of University College, Nairobi. Early life Winslade was born in London in 1919 to Alic ...

Cicely Thompson Cicely Thompson M.B.E. (9 June 1919 – 3 February 2008) was a nuclear engineer. Early life She was born Jane Cecily Thompson on 9 June 1919 in Great Ouseburn, England, to James Osbert Thompson and Jane Harrision Highmoor. Her father was an ...

, and US delegates Louise Davies and

Betty Lou Bailey Betty Lou Bailey (1929 – 2007) was a General Electric Company mechanical engineer from the United States. She held a patent for an aircraft variable exhaust nozzle. The invention operated so that one would vary both the throat and the exit dia ...

. Bussell submitted a paper on the Channel Tunnel to the third International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists conference held in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in 1971. Bussell became seriously ill in 1989 and died in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

in 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussell, Henrietta 1917 births 1996 deaths 20th-century British engineers British women scientists Welsh women scientists Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society Women's Engineering Society Welsh engineers 20th-century British women engineers British women engineers 20th-century Welsh women scientists 20th-century Welsh scientists Welsh women engineers