Eleanor Georgiana ShelleyRolls
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER (1872 - 1961)
Eleanor Georgina Shelley-Rolls was one of
seven female co-signatures for the formation
of the Women's Engineering Society in 1919
and was an attendee of the first ever meeting
held by the association. A keen hot air
balloonist Shelley-Rolls campaigned in
support for the electrification of Britain. She
took on the role to represent the Women's
Engineering Society at the Electrical
Association for Women board. She also
became a member of the Air League, the
Council Industrial Co-partnership and the
Executive League of Empire. An expert on the
history of motoring, Shelley-Rolls established
Atalanta Ltd. in 1920, an all women
engineering company, which supported and
employed female engineers.
Rachel Parsons
MECHNICAL ENGINEER (1885 - 1956)
Rachel Parsons was the co-founder and
president of the Women's Engineering
Society. Her family was successful in
engineering; her father Charles Parsons, the
inventor of the steam turbine, initiating the
revolution of electrical generation on ships.
She was inspired to follow a career in
this discipline. She was the first women to
study Mechanical Sciences at Cambridge
University, although she was unable to
graduate due to her gender, women being
prevented from doing so until 1948. She
became the director of her family business C.
A. Parsons & Co, where she made it a point
to hire women in traditionally
male roles, manufacturing steam turbines
and other necessary items for WWII. Latterly
she set up an all-female engineering company
and continued to campaign for women's
rights.
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