Katharine Isabella Williams (c. 1848 - 16 January 1917) was a British chemist who became a student, aged 29, at

University College Bristol University College, Bristol was an educational institution which existed from 1876 to 1909. It was the predecessor institution to the University of Bristol, which gained a royal charter in 1909. During its time the college mainly served the midd ...

. She was known for her collaboration in the 1880s with

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winning Scottish chemist,

William Ramsay Sir William Ramsay (; 2 October 1852 – 23 July 1916) was a Scottish chemist who discovered the noble gases and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements ...

and was also one of the signatories of the 1904 petition for the admission of women to the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

Life

Katharine Williams was born at Llanvapley in Monmouthshire, daughter of Thomas Williams, later Dean of Llandaff. She was educated at

King Edward VI High School for Girls King Edward VI High School for Girls ''(KEHS)'' () is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1883. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and occupies the same ...

, Birmingham. She resided for much of her life with her elder sister Elizabeth at Llandaff House, 1 Pembroke Vale, in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

, Bristol, where she died in 1917.

Research

She worked with

on studies of atmospheric gases, before moving on to conduct her own research in food analysis. She published for over 14 years, authoring 10 papers, including two published in the

Journal of the American Chemical Society The ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1879 by the American Chemical Society. The journal has absorbed two other publications in its history, the ''Journal of Analytical ...

(1904 and 1907). In 1909 she was one of the 24 female members of the 7th International Chemical Congress in London, and in 1910, by which time she was in her sixties, she gained a B.Sc. by research from University College Bristol, where she was considered to be one of the few advanced students capable of performing research. File:Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1902-1903.jpg, Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1902-1903 File:Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1898-1899.jpg, Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1898-1899 File:Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1907-1908.jpg, Chemistry Department staff and students, University College Bristol, 1907-1908

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Katherine Isabella British women chemists 1848 births 1917 deaths People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham Alumni of the University of Bristol Scientists from Bristol