As loyal readers may recall, some while ago I did a rather boring blog that was basically just a list of some names of women scientific civil servants I had encountered in the records of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Its merit, if any, was that some people who knew stuff about some of the women got in touch and I learnt more. Because there is always more to know.
This is a similar record, this time of women who were scientific civil servants at the Building Research Station (BRS/BRE), Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL), Fire Research Station (FRS) and Ministry of Works (MoW), and other construction-related organisations.

They were specialists in a wide range of fields, from maths and pure sciences, through various sorts of engineering, to sociology and statistics. Some achieved recognition in their own lifetimes, such as Margaret Law, others did important work but have otherwise vanished from the public record.
If your search engine has brought you here and you know ANYTHING about any of these women, or can add to the list, please get in touch.
Miss Valerie | Laws | BRE & Tropical Products Institute | 1959 |
Mrs Barbara M | Goldstone | BRE and Fire Research Station | 1976 |
Mrs PG | Allen | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss PJ | Arnold | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss EP | Belford | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Flora | Black | BRS/BRE | 1950 |
Mrs LML | Booth | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs ME | Booth | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss EM | Brown | BRS/BRE | 1926? |
Miss B. | Bruen | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs ME | Butler | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs Evelyn J | Cibula | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss Margaret A | Clapp | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs VA | Coleman | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs VM | Collins | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs IVM | Daws | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss CW | Douglas | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs A | Edwards | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss EJ | Elbogen | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss RM | Filmer | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss GNA | Gibson | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss (??) Elizabeth M | Glaister | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss MJ | Gold | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs IVM | Gordon | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs AS | Greeves | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss AM | Gregg | BRS/BRE | 1926? |
Mrs JD | Hawkins | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs KJ | Haynes | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Dr Winifred Vere | Hole | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs HC | Hutchings | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss IM | Jeffery | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs JR | Lang | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs EM | Lawson | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss EA | Leighton | BRS/BRE | 1926 |
Dr Julia | Lemessany | BRS/BRE | c.1970 |
Miss DA | Linsley | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs IDL | Lodge | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss NM | Macnaught | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs MM | Metcalf | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Elisabeth | Milroy | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss KJ | Noble | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs AA | Ogilvy | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs VK | Peachey | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs BR | Poole | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss PD | Russell | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss RA | Shipman | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss PJ | Smith | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs EM | Sobolev | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss AH | Sparrow | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Miss BJ | Turner | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss M. | Waltho | BRS/BRE | 1964 |
Mrs BDF | Ward | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss Barbara Elizabeth Anne | Wheller | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Mrs DS | Williams | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Miss CJ | Wilson | BRS/BRE | 1950 |
Miss AS | Wooding | BRS/BRE | 1959 |
Caroline Burkett | Pettifor | FPL | |
Winifred N | Daxon | FRS | |
Wendy | Evans | FRS | 1968 |
Christine | Eveleigh | FRS | 1970 |
Lynda G | Griffiths | FRS | 1967 |
Patricia | Kirsop | FRS | 1969 |
Margaret | Law | FRS | 1952 |
Sheila F | Nash | FRS | 1968 |
Ann I | Pitt | FRS | |
Barbara Frances Wilton | Rogowski | FRS | 1966 |
Ann I | Wadley | FRS | 1968 |
Miss P. M.P. | Hooper | MoW | 1946 |
Miss P. | King | MoW | 1946 |
Miss V. G. | Stone | MoW | 1946 |
MIss M. M. | Woodhead | MoW | 1946 |
Barbara Ethel | Sabey | TRRL | 1951 |
Mrs Irene T. | Barclay | yes but only in committees | n/a |
Mrs Helen | Brown | yes but only in committees | n/a |
Dr Margaret | Fishenden | yes but only in committees | |
Barbara E | Tredre | NIMR | 1965 |
Really interesting, Kay, especially the material about Wrens. Thank you. You probably know from my book, Women in the Royal Navy, that overseas service in WW2 was sought after, despite the hazards. But most mech Wrens stayed over here. After WW2 and into the 1960 some VERY high flyers went to work in private sector engineering. The WRNS training seems to have assured employers that they were getting the best.
Best wishes, Dr Jo Stanley
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