Frances Evelyn Cave-Browne-Cave FRAS (1876–1965) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and educator.

Early life

Frances Cave-Browne-Cave was the daughter of Sir Thomas Cave-Browne-Cave and Blanche Matilda Mary Ann Milton. She was educated at home in

Streatham Common Streatham Common is a large open space on the southern edge of Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth. The shallow sloping lower (western) half of the common is mostly mowed grass, and the upper (eastern) half is mostly woodland with some ...

with her sisters and entered

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, with her elder sister

Beatrice Mabel Cave-Browne-Cave Beatrice Mabel Cave-Browne-Cave, MBE AFRAeS (30 May 1874 – 9 July 1947) was an English mathematician who undertook pioneering work in the mathematics of aeronautics. Birth and education Beatrice Cave-Browne-Cave was the daughter of Sir Thom ...

in 1895. She obtained a first-class degree and she would have been Fifth Wrangler in 1898 if she had been a man. She took Part II of the Mathematical Tripos in 1899.

Career and continued studies

Like her sister, she was usually known by the single surname Cave professionally. Along with Beatrice, she worked with

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English biostatistician and mathematician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Her work was funded by the first research grant offered at Girton: an Old Students' Research Studentship from Girton, provided by

Florence Margaret Durham Florence Margaret Durham (6 April 1869 – 25 June 1949) was a British geneticist at Cambridge in the early 1900s and an advocate of the theory of Mendelian inheritance, at a time when it was still controversial. She was part of an informal sch ...

. Her research in the field of

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

produced two publications in the ''

Proceedings of the Royal Society ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

'' which discussed barometric measurements, and was read to the British Association at Cambridge in 1904. In 1903, Cave returned to Girton as a fellow. She prioritised teaching over research, and focused on developing the weakest students because she felt that was where the biggest difference could be made. She became the director of studies in 1918. She was on the executive council of the college and was largely responsible for drafting the charter of incorporation granted in 1924. On the 11 November 1921 she was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its headquarters are in Burlington House, on Pi ...

. Cave was made honorary fellow of Girton in 1942. Cave received an MA from

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

, in 1907 (since the rules of Cambridge University did not then permit women to take degrees) and from Cambridge in 1926.

Later life and death

Cave retired to Southampton in 1936. She died in

Shedfield Shedfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. In the 2001 UK Census, Shedfield had a population of 3,914, falling to 3,842 at the 2011 Census. Shedfield parish includes the neighbouring vill ...

in a nursing home on 30 March 1965.

References

External links

Papers in Girton College Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cave-Brown-Cave, Frances 1876 births 1965 deaths 20th-century English women 20th-century English mathematicians Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge 20th-century British women mathematicians