Winifred Grace Wright née Winifred Grace Hurst (6 June 1891

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 ...

- 8 September 1978

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

) was an English chemist best known for her work on devising protection against gas in warfare during

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After relocating to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1949 she produced an illustrated pocket guide to the flowers of Natal. Hurst initially produced pharmaceuticals in a team working under

Martha Whiteley 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 ...

(1866–1956), who was a prominent chemist at the Imperial College, London, and partly responsible for the development of

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 ...

used during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She was educated at the

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 Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and was awarded a

B.Sc. 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 of ...

(London) from Bedford College. Between 1914 and 1918 she worked at the Imperial College on synthetic drugs for the Navy and received a Diploma of Imperial College or the equivalent of an

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

In 1918 she joined the Anti-Gas Department of the Ministry of Munitions under Edward Harrison, who died as a result of his experiments. For the next 30 years from 1919 to 1949 she worked in the Chemistry Department of

Battersea Polytechnic The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

. During that period she married John Wright, a consultant on high-tension power lines, and raised a family of 3 daughters. In 1949 she emigrated to

where her husband was working for Eskom, the State electricity supplier, on power lines between Colenso and Durban. The erection of pylons resulted in the destruction of numerous plants, and John Wright suggested that Winifred document those, but she soon found that there was very little in the way of reference literature. Consequently, she embarked on a project to describe and illustrate the wild flowers, leading to the publication of a small field guide, 'The Wild Flowers of Southern Africa - Natal - A Rambler's Pocket Guide'. Her frequent visits to the Durban Herbarium to identify plants sparked such an interest that she started research at the University of Natal into the chemistry of local flora, resulting in a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1954.

References

*'Chemistry Was Their Life - Pioneer British Women Chemists, 1880–1949' - Marelene Rayner-Canham, Geoff Rayner-Canham,Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada (Imperial College Press, 2008) *'The Wild Flowers of Southern Africa - Natal - A Rambler's Pocket Guide' - Dr. Winifred G. Wright (Nelson, 1963) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Winifred Grace Botanical illustrators English chemists