Rachel Alcock (1862 – 2 February 1939) was an English

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and academic.

Early life and education

Born in Stockport, Cheshire, in 1862, Alcock received her early education from tutors and private school. She attended

Newnham College Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

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 ...

, from 1886. She took the Natural Sciences Tripos examinations and stayed on in Newnham with a

Bathurst studentship The Bathurst studentship was a fund for graduates of the natural science tripos at the women's colleges at the University of Cambridge to continue their scientific research. It was established in 1879 by The Hon. Lady Evelyn Selina Bathurst (ofte ...

. She undertook research on digestive processes, and on nerve distribution in the primitive fish, which was supervised by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Walter Gaskell. Alcock taught

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

to women students in the Balfour Laboratory for a short period in 1891 and again in 1898–1899, filling in after the resignation of

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Lilian Sheldon Lilian Sheldon (May 1862 – 6 May 1942) was an English zoologist. Life Sheldon was born in Handsworth in 1862 where her father was the vicar (one source says 1860). She had two brothers who survived and four sisters. Her parents Ann (born ...

. By the late 1890s, despite continuing to work as a demonstrator in the Balfour Laboratory, Alcock became interested in Spanish literature. She spent two years at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, and in Toledo from 1914 to 1916, and then went on to study for an M.A. at

Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...

in 1916.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Rachel English physiologists People from Stockport Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge 1862 births 1939 deaths