Speaker of note at Probus ladies lunch
Throughout the year the good ladies of the men of East Kilbride Probus Club allow their other halves out to the fortnightly meetings.
And to return the favour the men invite them to a Valentine’s lunch.
This year it was held in the Bruce Hotel in East Kilbride where the ladies on arrival received an individually-wrapped carnation.
After a few drinks, lunch followed and, as is the norm on these occasions, there was a speaker.
Barbara Graham, now semi-retired, was a university lecturer who specialised in recent social history and is currently lecturing in her subject in the Glasgow University centre for lifelong learning.
She was described in her introduction as someone who was able to interpret and explain the deep significance of some of the major events of the 19th and 20th centuries and what they mean for the shape of our society today.
This was a very appropriate speaker in view of the current look-back at ladies (some ladies and only those over 30) being given the vote in 1918.
Her subject was ‘The Lady on the RBS £10 Note’ – Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780-1872).
Ms Graham looked at her from the point of view of growing up, marriages (one good, one bad), being free to learn, crowned queen of 19th century science, exploring the starlit heavens, opportunities for women and her final days and legacies.
She was a Scottish science writer and polymath, she studied mathematics and astronomy and was nominated to be jointly the first female member of the Royal Astronomical Society at the same time as Caroline Herschel.
When John Stuart Mill, the philosopher and economist, organised a massive petition to parliament to give women the right to vote, he had Somerville put her signature first on the petition.
Born in1780, she was encouraged by an uncle and taught to read but not to write, even though it was the age of enlightenment.
It was not all learning as she went on trips to Edinburgh to parties and balls, as well as having innocent flirtations.
Her first marriage in 1804 was short as her husband died three years later. She then married Dr William Somerville who shared and encouraged her in such subjects as biology and botany and mixing with the educated fraternity.
By 1831 she had written a book called Mechanisms of the Heavens and three years later one entitled On the Connection of Physical Science.
In 1848 she published Physical Geography (for which she won the Gold Medal) and in 1869 Molecular and Microscopic Science.
She was selling 15,000 copies which was quite a lot for those times. In fact, nothing sold as much until Darwin came along with The Origin of the Species.
Other accomplishments were that by 1835 she was one of the first two women to be admitted to The Royal Astronomical Society. In 1866, she signed her name to a petition for Women’s Suffrage.
She died in Naples, Italy in 1872 and left a legacy of an inspiration across many scientific fields, proving that women can reach academic heights and how science was accessible to all.
President Allan Stevenson proposed a vote of thanks and presented Ms Graham with a bouquet of flowers.
Mrs Sheila Stevenson, the president’s wife, proposed a vote of thanks on behalf of the invited ladies at the lunch, and that her gift of flowers turned it into a special occasion.