Katharine, Lady Parsons ( Bethell; 1859 – 16 October 1933) was the co-founder and second President 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), and an engineer in her own right.

Partnership with Charles Parsons

Born to William Frogatt Bethell at Rise Park in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

in 1859, Katharine met the Hon. Charles Parsons in Leeds in 1882 while he was working there as an engineer. They married in January 1883 and had two children, Algernon George and Rachel Mary.Rolla Appleyard, ''Charles Parsons: His Life and Work,'' Constable & Co. Ltd, 1933), p.28. In their early married days Katharine would regularly accompany Charles on 7 am morning lakes trials of his prototype torpedoes at

Roundhay Park Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe.Only Richmond Park (London), Phoenix Park (Dublin) and Silesian Culture and Recreation Park ( Chorzów, Poland) are larger. It covers more than of park ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. Throughout nearly a half-century of marriage, she was almost always to be found working closely with him on engineering projects – both at home and in the commercial engineering works – especially during the period in which the Parsons

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

was developed.

The First World War

Famed for her robust character and exceptional organisational skills, during the First World War Lady Parsons was closely involved in managing the female workforces in

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

converted armaments factories. It was for this war work that Lady Parsons was made the first Honorary Fellow of the North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Ship-builders in 1919. Having seen the highly effective deployment of women in engineering work during the Great War, Lady Parsons was robustly critical of the removal of many women from such work under the terms of the

Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919 The Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act 1919 was a British Act of Parliament passed on 2 June 1919, which gave soldiers returning from World War I their pre-war jobs back. The Restoration of Pre-War Practices (no. 3) Bill (UK) had its second read ...

that restored many returning male combatants to their pre-war responsibilities. In a widely publicised speech on July 9, 1919: 'Women's Work and Shipbuilding during the War' she deplored the way that women had been required to produce the 'implements of war and destruction' but then be denied 'the privilege of fashioning the munitions of peace.'

The Women's Engineering Society

Just three weeks earlier she had launched the

(WES) in collaboration with her daughter

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

, and five other women of influence,

Eleanor Shelley-Rolls Eleanor Georgiana Shelley-Rolls (9 October 1872 – 15 September 1961) was one of the original signatories of the Women's Engineering Society founding documents. She was a keen hot air balloonist. Early life Rolls was born in Mayfair, London ...

; Janetta Mary Ornsby; Margaret D Rowbotham;

Margaret, Lady Moir Margaret, Lady Moir, OBE (née Margaret Bruce Pennycook) (10 January 18645 October 1942) was a Scottish lathe operator, engineer, a workers' relief organiser, an employment campaigner, and a founder member of the Women's Engineering Society (W ...

Laura Annie Willson Laura Annie Willson Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Buckley) (15 August 1877 – 17 April 1942) was an English engineer and suffragette, who was twice imprisoned for her political activities. She was one of the founding members of the Wo ...

in order to protect women's position in the field, and enable them to communicate, and especially to share opportunities for training and employment. It was Lady Parsons who appointed

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 an ...

to be first Secretary of WES in February 1919. Frequent financial challenges arising from the difficulties of prompted Lady Parsons to make substantial donations to keep the fledgling Society afloat. Lady Parsons was also a co-founder of

Atalanta Ltd Atalanta Ltd (1921–1937) was an engineering company set up in 1921 in the UK by a small group of women engineers. It was considered notable at the time for providing employment specifically for women engineers, who were barred from many engineer ...

, a company set up specifically to supply employment for women in engineering work. Following a period as President by Rachel Parsons, Lady Parsons was President of WES from 1922 to 1925. Her annual speeches during that WES presidency were described by a contemporary as 'masterly in their range and thorough in details'. In that latter year, however, she broke off relations with WES after a disagreement with

over the future direction of the Society.

Later years

Lady Parsons served as a magistrate from 1921, and for her public achievements was admitted to the freedom of the

Worshipful Company of Shipwrights The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights is one of the ancient livery companies of the City of London. Although the Shipwrights' Company is no longer a shipbuilding trade association representing solely London-based industry, through its membershi ...

and later given the freedom of the City of London. Nevertheless, she also found much time to pursue her pastimes of riding horses, long-distance driving and entertaining guests at the family home of Ray Demesthene at

Kirkwhelpington Kirkwhelpington is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northumberland about northeast of Hexham. It is on the River Wansbeck alongside the A696 trunk road between Otterburn and Ponteland. History Kirkwhelpington has mediev ...

. After Charles Parsons's passing in 1931, Lady Parsons was a major source for Rollo Appleyard's biography of her late husband. She died in 1933 after a long battle with cancer.

Legacy

The Women's' Engineering Society, which Katherine co-founded in July 1919, has fostered women's careers in engineering, science and technology ever since. The invention of the steam turbine, which is still in use today, led to electricity being generated on a large-scale at low cost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Katharine English justices of the peace British women engineers English mechanical engineers 1859 births 1933 deaths Engineers from Yorkshire Presidents of the Women's Engineering Society Women's Engineering Society Wives of knights