Sibyl Taite Widdows Explained

Sibyl Taite Widdows
Birth Date:27 May 1876
Nationality:British
Occupation:Lecturer in Chemistry
Alma Mater:Royal Holloway College, London
Discipline:Chemistry

Sibyl Taite Widdows (27 May 1876 – 4 January 1960) was a British scientist and member of the chemistry department at the London School of Medicine for Women for 40 years.[1]

Sibyl was also one of the 19 women signatories of the Letter of 19, a 1904 petition for admission of women to Fellowship in the Chemical Society which stated: "We, the undersigned, representing women engaged in chemical work in this country desire to lay before you an appeal for the admission of women to Fellowship in the Chemical Society."(p. 64-65).

Biography

Widdows was born on 27 May 1876, and attended Dulwich High School for Girls in West Dulwich, South London, England. She continued her education and obtained a degree in chemistry from the Royal Holloway College in 1900.

Starting at the London School of Medicine for Women as a Demonstrator in Chemistry in 1901, she was promoted to joint-in-charge of the Chemistry Department in 1904 and became head in 1935.[2] During this she progressed to the rank of Lecturer, and stayed at the school until her retirement in 1942.

In an obituary written by her Phyllis Sanderson, her successor, Widdows was described as "an ardent feminist and willingly sacrificed her own career as a chemist for the cause most dear to her heart, the training of women doctors at Hunter Street, the only training ground in Medicine open to women in England at that time" (p. 161)

She authored and co-authored at least 12 research papers, with her research focusing around the composition and secretion of human milk (see publications). This Includes two publications with other signatories on the Letter of 19, Margaret Seward and Ida Smedley Maclean.

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rayner-Canham, Marelene. Chemistry was Their Life: Pioneer British Women Chemists, 1880–1949. limited. World Scientific. 2008. 9781908978998. 160–161.
  2. Book: Rayner-Canham, Marelene. A Chemical Passion: The forgotten story of chemistry at British independent girls' schools, 1820s–1930s. UCL IOE Press. 2017. 978-1782771883. 46–48.
  3. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. Lowenfeld. Margaret Frances. Bond. Muriel. Taylor. Effie Isabel. 1930. A study of the composition of human milk in the later periods of lactation and a comparison with that of early milk. Biochemical Journal. 24. 2. 327–342. 0264-6021. 1254425. 16744369. 10.1042/bj0240327.
  4. Lowenfeld. Margaret Frances. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. Gregory. Hazel H. Chodak. Percentage of Fat in Human Milk: Influence of the Method of Extraction. Journal of Human Lactation. en. 12. 1. 61–63. 10.1177/089033449601200115. 8715243. 1996. 145352973.
  5. Lowenfeld. Margaret Frances. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. Bond. Muriel. Taylor. Effie Isabel. 1927. A Study of the Variations in the Chemical Composition of Normal Human Colostrum and Early Milk. Biochemical Journal. 21. 1. 1–15. 0264-6021. 1251864. 16743792. 10.1042/bj0210001.
  6. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. 1923. Calcium Content of the Blood during Pregnancy. Biochemical Journal. 17. 1. 34–40. 0264-6021. 1259314. 16743159. 10.1042/bj0170034.
  7. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. Lowenfeld. Margaret Frances. Bond. Muriel. Shiskin. Cecilia. Taylor. Effie Isabel. May 1, 1935. A study of the antenatal secretion of the human mammary gland and a comparison between this and the secretion obtained directly after birth. Biochemical Journal. 29. 5. 1145–1166. 0264-6021. 1266609. 16745775. 10.1042/bj0291145.
  8. McKenzie. Alex.. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. 1915-01-01. LXXV.—The racemisation of phenyl-p-tolylacetic acid. Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. en. 107. 702–715. 10.1039/CT9150700702. 0368-1645.
  9. MacLean. Ida Smedley. Widdows. Sibyl Taite. 1914-01-01. CCI.—The action of magnesium phenyl bromide on derivatives of phenyl styryl ketone. Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions. en. 105. 2169–2175. 10.1039/CT9140502169. 0368-1645.

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