Frances Hardcastle (13 August 1866 – 26 December 1941) was an English mathematician, in 1894 one of the founding members of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

. Her work included contributions to the theory of

point group In geometry, a point group is a group (mathematics), mathematical group of symmetry operations (isometry, isometries in a Euclidean space) that have a Fixed point (mathematics), fixed point in common. The Origin (mathematics), coordinate origin o ...

Biography

Born in Writtle, just outside

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Hardcastle was a daughter of Henry Hardcastle, a barrister, by his marriage in 1865 to Maria Sophia Herschel,"Herschel, Maria Sophia, Hardcastle, Henry / Cranbrook 2a 1041" in ''General Index to Marriages in England and Wales'' (1865) daughter of the astronomer, mathematician, and chemist Sir John Herschel. She was educated at Girton College (Tripos Part I 1891 & Part II 1892), and obtained a Certificate in Mathematics. In 1892, she went to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

for a year as an honorary fellow, then spent another year at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

studying under Charlotte Scott. While at Bryn Mawr she was president of the Graduate Club and translated

Felix Klein Felix Christian Klein (; ; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and Mathematics education, mathematics educator, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and the associations betwe ...

's book ''On Riemann's Theory of Algebraic functions and Integrals''. In 1895, she recommenced postgraduate studies at Cambridge, and within a few years had published several papers on point-groups. She earned a BA degree from the University of London in 1903.

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 Unive ...

awarded her an MA ( ad eundem) in 1905. Hardcastle was one of 156 British women who publicly supported the aims of the International Congress of Women, held in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in April 1915. These aims were, "1. To demand that international disputes shall in future be settled by some other means than war," and "2. To claim that women shall have a voice in the affairs of nations." Until 1909, she was an Honorary Secretary of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Hardcastle was the lifelong companion of Dr Ethel Williams, a physician, Justice of the Peace, feminist, and social reformer. She died at the Royal Hotel, Cambridge, on 26 December 1941, when her home address was stated as Low Bridges, Stocksfield,

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, and left a substantial estate valued at £4,400. Probate was granted to Ethel Williams and Mabel Annie Burnip.''Calendar of Grants of Probate in England and Wales'' (1942)
p. 74
probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 18 October 2020

Notable publications

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Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Frances 1866 births 1941 deaths Alumni of the University of London English pacifists English suffragists English mathematicians People from Writtle British women mathematicians International Congress of Women people Steamboat ladies

Biography

Notable publications

Notes

Further reading

External links