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Mary Watson (chemist)

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Mary Watson
BornOctober 1856
Died20 February 1933
EducationSomerville Hall, Oxford
OccupationChemist
Spouse
John Style
(m. 1885)

Mary Watson (October 1856 – 20 February 1933) was a British chemist. She was one of the first two women to study Chemistry at the University of Oxford, the other one being Margaret Seward.[1]

Watson was born in October 1856 at Shirburn, Oxfordshire,[2] daughter of John Watson and Anne Bruce. Her father was a farmer and land agent to the Earl of Macclesfield.[3] She was educated at home and at St John's Wood High School. Watson entered Somerville Hall, later Somerville College, of the University of Oxford in 1879 on a Clothworkers' Scholarship.[4] This was a scholarship of 35 pounds for three years.[3] Somerville was founded in the same year as one of the two first women's colleges of Oxford. In 1881, she was awarded another two-year scholarship with a value of 30 pounds.[5] Watson completed with a first class honours in Geology in 1882 and a second class in Chemistry in 1883.[4] However, it was not until 1920 that Oxford allowed women to matriculate and therefore formally gain degrees.[6]

Following graduation, Watson was appointed Science Mistress at Cheltenham Ladies' College. She held that position until 1886 when she had to resign following her marriage to John Style in Thame a year earlier.[4][7] They lived in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire.[8] Style was Headmaster at Cheltenham Grammar School since 1882, but was sacked in 1906.[9] They retired to Michelmersh, Hampshire,[2] where she died on 20 February 1933.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Rayner-Canham 2008, p. 243.
  2. ^ a b 1911 United Kingdom census.
  3. ^ a b Somerville College archives.
  4. ^ a b c d Rayner-Canham 2020, p. 94.
  5. ^ "News notes". The Cardigan Observer (305): 2. 29 October 1881. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via National Library of Wales.
  6. ^ Batson 2008, p. xv.
  7. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915.
  8. ^ 1901 United Kingdom census.
  9. ^ Neil Hyde (2013). Celebrating the centenary of the Old Patesians RFC 1912/13 – 2012/13 (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

Bibliography

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