Isabel Hodgson Hadfield (29 January 1893 – 6 February 1965) was a British physical chemist and one of the first women to be employed as a scientific member of staff for the metallurgy department of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

Early life

Isabel Hodgson Hadfield was born on 29 January 1893 to Annie (née Hodgson) and George William Hadfield in

Welling Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. ...

, Kent, the youngest of three siblings.

Education

Hadfield graduated from

East London College The history of Queen Mary University of London lies in the mergers, over the years, of four older colleges: Queen Mary College, Westfield College, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College. In 1989 Queen Mar ...

in 1914, where her father was a schoolmaster. She earned an M.Sc. in 1923 as a result of her work with the

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sci ...

department of the National Physical Laboratory.

Career

Hadfield joined the Birmingham Education Council in 1915, working as a chemistry mistress. In 1917, she joined the National Physical Laboratory as a junior assistant. She was one of the first two women in the scientific staff within the metallurgy department, alongside Marie Gayler. She initially worked alongside Mr Murdock for the India Office, with a focus on steel analysis. Although Hadfield joined the NPL as a result of the demand for female scientists during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, she continued with the department after the War. She moved to work in research and testing on the chemical problems related to aeronautics with Dr Guy Barr, contributing to reports submitted to the Fabrics Research Co-ordinating Committee of

DSIR Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industri ...

. These reports focused on the effects of acid traces and light on the strength of cotton. She presented a paper entitled ''Some Chemical Problems in the Cotton Industry'' at the International Conference of Women in Science, Industry and Commerce at the

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhib ...

on 16 July 1925, speaking alongside the American engineer

Ethel H. Bailey Ethel H. Bailey (18 August 18965 July 1985) was an American mechanical engineer who began her working life in aviation and went on to develop radar and spectroscopic equipment. She was called a 'trailblazer' by fellow engineer Margaret Ingels i ...

and electrical engineer

Margaret Partridge Margaret Mary Partridge (8 April 1891 – 27 October 1967) was an electrical engineer, contractor and founder member of the Women's Engineering Society (WES) and the Electrical Association for Women (EAW). Her business worked with WES to identif ...

. This paper was later published in Vol II Part 4. of ''

The Woman Engineer The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

'' in September 1925. Her work experimenting with very small specimens led to her selection in 1931 by Dr Cecil H. Desch to develop microchemical methods in the NPL. As a result of this work she became active in the

British Microchemical Club British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and became known as an authority on

microchemistry Microscale chemistry (often referred to as small-scale chemistry, in German: Chemie im Mikromaßstab) is an analytical method and also a teaching method widely used at school and at university levels, working with small quantities of chemical su ...

, developing new techniques and apparatus for use within the field. Her work in microchemistry led her to become a member of the

British Standards Institution The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to busines ...

sub-committee contributing to the production of updates to B.S. 914:1940. Her work included experiments and examinations of porcelain apparatus, which were excluded from the existing standard. She was a member of the

Society for Analytical Chemistry A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

, joining in 1944, and the

National Union of Scientific Workers The Association of Scientific Workers (AScW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the National Union of Scientific Workers in 1918, changing its name to the Association of Scientific Workers in 1927. The union largely rep ...

. She retired from the NPL in March 1953, at which time she held the role of Principal Scientific Officer. She was particularly known within the NPL for her contributions to the welfare of female staff. Isabel Hodgson Hadfield died in Alresford, Hampshire on 6 February 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadfield, Isobel British physical chemists 1893 births 1965 deaths National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) People from Bexley