Alice Perry
Alice Jacqueline Perry (born October 24, 1885 in Welpark House, Galway , County Galway , † April 21, 1969 ) was an Irish civil engineer and poet. She is considered the first woman in Great Britain and Ireland to graduate as an engineer, possibly in Europe or worldwide.
Life
Her father, James Perry, was a county surveyor for Galway West and, with his brother, the founder of the Galway Electric Light Company. Her uncle John Perry is known as one of the inventors of the gyrocompass and was a Fellow of the Royal Society . Alice Perry attended high school in Galway and from 1902 studied on a scholarship at Queen's College in Galway (now National University of Ireland, Galway , NUI Galway). She had a talent for mathematics and therefore switched to studying civil engineering with a bachelor's degree with top marks in 1906. She broke off further studies after the death of her father in the same year and was his temporary successor as county surveyor for six months in 1906 someone else was permanently hired. That made her the only woman to ever be a county surveyor or county engineer in Ireland.
In 1908 she moved to London with her sisters and was the State Factory Inspector (Lady Factory Inspector) for the Home Office. In particular, she oversaw working conditions for women in factories. After they had moved to Glasgow, she married Bob Shaw, but a year later in 1916 World War I on the Western Front fell. In 1921 she gave up her position as factory inspector and began publishing poems in 1922. In Glasgow she had also joined the Christian Science movement and in 1923 went to Boston, where she worked for the sect that has its headquarters there. In total, she published seven volumes of poetry brought out by Christian Science. She visited Ireland three more times (1930, 1948 and 1960), including one visit to her old engineering faculty.
A building in the engineering department of the National University of Ireland in Galway is named after her.
Web links
- English biography (Realized Vision)
- Perry, Alice Jacqueline , biography in: Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720–1940
Individual evidence
- ^ Alice Perry - the Galway woman who became Europe's first engineering graduate , Engineers Journal, June 20, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perry, Alice |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perry, Alice Jacqueline (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Irish civil engineer and poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 24, 1885 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Galway |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 21, 1969 |