Martha Annie Whiteley, (11 November 1866 – 24 May 1956) was an English chemist and mathematician. She was instrumental in advocating for women's entry into the Chemical Society, and was best known for her dedication to advancing women's equality in the field of chemistry. She is identified as one of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

's 175 Faces of Chemistry.

Biography

Whiteley was born on 11 November 1866, in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, England, to her father, William Sedgewick Whiteley and mother, Hannah Bargh. Her mother died in the 1870s, after which her father remarried Mary Bargh Turner Clark in 1880.

Education

Whiteley began her education at Kensington High School, London, a Girls Public Day School Trust school. The Girls' Public Day School Trust provided affordable day school education for girls. She continued her education as one of the first 28 students at Royal Holloway College for Women (London), where she graduated in 1890 with a B.Sc. in chemistry from the University of London. She remained at the Royal Holloway College for Women to obtain and pass an honor in an undergraduate degree in mathematical moderations from

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

. Between 1891 and 1900, Whiteley was science mistress at Wimbledon High School and for the next 2 years, science lecturer at St. Gabriel's Training College, Camberwall. During 1898–1902 she was also undertaking research on the organic chemistry of barbiturate compounds at the Royal College of Science. Whiteley's research, working with Professor Sir William Tilden, helped her achieve earning a doctorate degree (D.Sc.) in 1902 from the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

(later part of

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

). Her dissertation was on the preparation and properties of

amide In organic chemistry, an amide, also known as an organic amide or a carboxamide, is a compound with the general formula , where R, R', and R″ represent organic groups or hydrogen atoms. The amide group is called a peptide bond when it is ...

s and

oxime In organic chemistry, an oxime is a organic compound belonging to the imines, with the general formula , where R is an organic side-chain and R’ may be hydrogen, forming an aldoxime, or another organic group, forming a ketoxime. O-substituted ...

s. At the same time, she worked part-time as a science lecturer at St Gabriel's Training College in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

, a college for female teachers.

University career

After completion of her doctorate in 1902, Whiteley was invited by Tilden to join the staff at the College of Science, and was one of only two female professional staff when the college merged with the newly formed

in 1907. She was the first woman to become a Reader in Imperial College. In 1912, Whiteley founded the Imperial College Women's Association upon recommendation from rector Sir Alfred Keogh. This association helped women of the college strive for equal treatment in the field of chemistry. Whiteley retired from Imperial College in 1934, but continued work in editing and contributing to ''Thorpe's Dictionary of Applied Chemistry'' with her co-author

Jocelyn Field Thorpe Sir Jocelyn Field Thorpe FRS (1 December 1872 – 10 June 1940) was a British chemist who made major contributions to organic chemistry, including the Thorpe-Ingold effect and three named reactions. Early life and education Thorpe was b ...

. After

died in 1939, Whiteley became the principal editor of twelve volumes of the fourth edition of ''Thorpe's Dictionary of Applied Chemistry''. She completed her contributions at the age of 88 in 1954. Whiteley's life and works are described in a detailed chapter in the 2011 publication on ''European Women in Chemistry''.

War work

During World War One, the chemical laboratories at the Imperial College were utilized to analyze samples collected from battlefields and areas that had been bombed. She and her colleagues focused on analyzing lachrymators and irritants. Whiteley worked with

Frances Micklethwait Frances Mary Gore Micklethwait (1867– 25 March 1950),F. H. Burstall, 'Obituary Notices: Frances Mary Gore Micklethwait,' ''J. Chem. Soc.'', 1952, 2946–2947. Nb. Burstall gives an incorrect birth year. was an English research chemist, among t ...

and 6 other female scientists in an experimental trench at Imperial College testing mustard gas and explosives. The work was hazardous: Whitely wounded her arm whilst testing

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

on herself. She also worked on developing syntheses of drugs that had previously been imported from Germany including beta-Eucaine,

Phenacetin Phenacetin (acetophenetidin, ''N''-(4-ethoxyphenyl)acetamide) is a pain-relieving and fever-reducing drug, which was widely used following its introduction in 1887. It was withdrawn from medicinal use as dangerous from the 1970s (e.g., withdrawn ...

and

Procaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. Owing to the ubiquity ...

. In 1920, Whiteley received the honor of the

Order of British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for her scientific contributions to war efforts. An earlier biography by Mary R.S. Creese of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

was published in 1997 in the American Chemical Society's ''Bulletin for the History of Chemistry'', and references what appears to be an obituary published 40 years previously in the year after Whiteley's death.

Contributions to women in science

Whiteley was well known for her contributions to working towards women's equality in the field of chemistry. Prior to establishing the Imperial College Women's Association in 1912, Whiteley fought for cloakroom facility updates for female staff and students in all academic departments. Further, in 1904, she advocated with 19 other women for women's admittance into the Fellowship of 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. ...

in London. At first the women were unsuccessful in their efforts, but in 1908 current fellows voted in favor of admitting women into the Chemical Society. However, the women did not gain full admittance into the fellowship until 1920 after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919 was passed. After joining the society, Whiteley worked with another woman, Ida Smedley Maclean, in founding the Women's Dining Club of the Chemical Society. Whiteley became the first female elected member of the Chemical Society's Council.

References