Katharine Isabella Williams Explained

Katharine Isabella Williams
Birth Date:c. 1848
Birth Place:Llanvapley, Monmouthshire
Death Date:16 January 1917
Death Place:Bristol
Citizenship:United Kingdom
Nationality:British
Fields:Food analysis
Workplaces:University College Bristol
Academic Advisors:William Ramsay
Known For:Signatory to 1904 petition to join the Chemistry Society
Education:King Edward VI High School for Girls, University College Bristol

Katharine Isabella Williams (c. 1848 - 16 January 1917) was a British chemist who became a student, aged 29, at University College Bristol. She was known for her collaboration in the 1880s with Nobel prize winning Scottish chemist, William Ramsay and was also one of the signatories of the 1904 petition for the admission of women to the Chemical Society.[1]

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, Birmingham. She resided for much of her life with her elder sister Elizabeth at Llandaff House, 1 Pembroke Vale, in Clifton, Bristol, where she died in 1917.

Research

She worked with William Ramsay on studies of atmospheric gases, before moving on to conduct her own research in food analysis.[2] [3] She published for over 14 years, authoring 10 papers, including two published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (1904 and 1907).[4] In 1909 she was one of the 24 female members of the 7th International Chemical Congress in London,[5] 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.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Chemistry Was Their Life: Pioneering British Women Chemists, 1880-1949. Rayner-Canham. Marelene F.. Rayner-Canham. Geoffrey. 2008. Imperial College Press. 9781860949876. en.
  2. Williams. Katharine I.. 1897-01-01. LXVI.β€”The composition of cooked fish. Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. en. 71. 649–653. 10.1039/CT8977100649. 0368-1645.
  3. Williams. Katharine I.. The Chemical Composition of Cooked Vegetable Foods. Part Ii. 1907-04-01. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 29. 4. 574–582. 10.1021/ja01958a021. 0002-7863.
  4. Creese. Mary R. S.. September 1991. British women of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who contributed to research in the chemical sciences. The British Journal for the History of Science. 24. 3. 275–305. 10.1017/S0007087400027370. 1474-001X. 11622943. free.
  5. News: Scientific Women and Cookery. 11 June 1909. Musselburgh News. 27 April 2020.
  6. Book: Tilden, William A.. Sir William Ramsay: Memorials of His Life and Work (Classic Reprint). 2015-07-18. Fb&c Limited. 9781331679080. en.