Georgina Kermode MIM (1868 – 5 September 1923) was a suffragette, metallurgist, engineering entrepreneur and holder of numerous patents.

Biography

Kermode was born Georgina Elizabeth Fawns in

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

, United Kingdom in 1868, daughter of the Rev. J. Fawns, of Launceston. Her family were from

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and when she was seventeen Kermode married another Tasmanian landowner Robert Crellin Kermode. She lived in Mona Vale, known as ''Calendar house'' probably as a result of its 12 chimneys. By the time she was twenty seven Kermode had become an active suffragette and ran the

Campbell Town Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823. History Traditional owners of the Campbell Town area The traditional custodians of the Campbell Town area were ...

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

. Kermode became the Colonial Suffrage Superintendent of the WCTU. She organised propaganda to put pressure on politicians and in 1896 she arranged a winter campaign of meetings and petitions all over Tasmania. She worked with Jessie Rooke. Kermode's husband held mining interests and Kermode became a director of the ''Tasmanian Metals Extraction Co. Ltd.'' She became an expert in the metal ores of Tasmania. The business had technical difficulties in reaching the metals and Kermode travelled to England to gain expertise in the electrolytic extraction for the treatment of the zinc-lead ores in about 1904. Kermode did not return to Australia. Her husband did travel to the UK when he joined the army in 1914. From 1907 to 1923 Kermode took out patents for a variety of inventions. There were 27 across the

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and the

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. Her main inventions related to the automatic vending of postage stamps. The UK post office bought her automatic machines and the very first of them was put in

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. They were in place until 1920. One of the advantages of her machines was the improved ability to detect counterfeit coins. Other patents were for improvements in furnaces, breathing apparatus for firefighters and divers, and a diving suit. When she was elected to the

Institute of Metals The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a British engineering institution with activities including promotion of the development of materials science. It has been a registered charity governed by a royal charter and a member ...

on 21 December 1916 Kermode became the first woman to be a member. She was proposed by Sir George Beilby, Professor Alfred Kirby Huntington and Thomas Turner. She was a regular attendee at institute events and was involved in other mining organisations. She died in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and was taken to Tasmania to be buried.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kermode, Georgina 1868 births 1923 deaths British women engineers Engineers from London British inventors People from Chipping Barnet People from Tasmania Australian temperance activists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people