Evelyn Roxburgh
Born
Mary Evelyn Roxburgh

10 October 1896
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died24 April 1973
Long Wittenham, England
Burial placeSt. Mary's churchyard, Long Wittenham
NationalityScottish
Other namesEvi Roxburgh
Alma materHeriot-Watt College
OccupationElectrical engineer
Known forFirst Scottish female electrical engineer

Mary Evelyn Roxburgh (10 October 1896 – 24 April 1973) is believed to have been the first woman electrical engineer in Scotland and government factory inspector in England.[1]

Life

Evi Roxburgh was born into a family of lawyers in Edinburgh, Scotland. She enrolled in Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt College (now Heriot-Watt University), graduating with her diploma in electrical engineering in 1923.[1] It is widely believed[1][2] that she was the first woman to qualify in electrical engineering because "the only other women studying engineering in Scotland seem to have been doing civil engineering."[2]

Work

After graduation, she got a job working in the electrical switchgear department of Metropolitan Vickers.[2][3] At the time Metro-Vicks was one of the biggest engineering companies in the country and known as "the foremost employer of female engineers in the interwar period when such work was extremely difficult to find for women, regardless of their experience or qualifications."[2] She joined the Women's Engineering Society before 1924.[4]

Later, she left Metro-Vicks for British Thomson-Houston, known primarily for its electrical systems and steam turbines, and located in the Midlands region.[3]

Church of England parish church of St Mary, Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire).

In 1928, Roxburgh was appointed to a government agency to become HM Inspector of Factories, responsible for health and safety inspections.[2][5]

In a major career change, she left engineering to take the required training to be a radiographer,[6] and rose to become the head radiographer a hospital in Surrey. There, "one eminent consultant radiologist was known to remark that he had rarely seen radiographs of a greater diagnostic value then those taken by Miss Roxburgh." Her engineering training prepared her for the job of manipulating radiography equipment.[2]

Retirement

In 1950, her father died, leaving both sisters well off financially and enabling them to retire together to the village of Long Wittenham in Oxfordshire near the River Thames.

Evi Roxburgh died 24 April 1973. She is buried with her sister in the local village churchyard of St. Mary's.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "From our past". Heriot-Watt University. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "35: Mary evelyn 'evi' roxburgh". Magnificent Women. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Mary Evelyn Roxburgh - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Woman Engineer Vol 1". twej.theiet.org. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Woman Engineer Vol 2". twej.theiet.org. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. ↑ METROPOLITAN-VICKERS: ARTHUR FLEMING’S INFLUENCE ON THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF APPRENTICE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO FEMALE COLLEGE AND STUDENT APPRENTICES BETWEEN 1945-1967 VERONICA MARY JACKSON https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/615896/1/Veronica%20Jackson%20-%20Thesis%202016.pdf
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