To celebrate the centenary of the Institution’s first woman Member, Head of the Information and Library Service, Sarah Rogers, has written a piece giving insight into Verena Holmes’s career, membership, and personality through Institution records.
22nd February 2024 is a pivotal anniversary for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers – the centenary of its first female member, Miss Verena Winifred Holmes (23 June 1889 – 20 February 1964) who was elected Associate Member on this day in 1924.
This anniversary might have been four years earlier, as Holmes initially sought membership in 1920, but her application received a no motion response. Minutes from the IMechE contain a footnote clarifying that the decision in December 1920 not to elect her ‘was made strictly on the merits of the case, and without prejudice on account of the Candidate’s sex.’
The 1919 Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act played a vital role in opening professional avenues for women. This specifically stated that sex or marital status could not be a bar to admission to any incorporated society and forbade Universities from regulating the admission of women. The Institution’s solicitor was uncompromising in his advice to the IMechE Council in 1920, he replied that the Act removed the disqualification of all women – the words ‘he, him and his’ had previously been used to restrict membership, this now had to read ‘he or she’. He added that all other qualifications required for membership remained unchanged, a woman applicant for membership would have to meet the same technical and educational standards as a male applicant.
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Engineering Her Career
Holmes described herself as coming from a non-engineering family and she initially trained to be a photographer. Her journey into the field of engineering began amidst the backdrop of World War 1, where women, under the policy of dilution, ventured into various engineering roles. She secured a position as a lathe turner at Arnott and Harrison in Willesden in 1916, where she found her true calling.
Her next steps led her to join Ruston & Hornsby in 1917, a company who manufactured industrial engines in Lincoln. It is their Chief Draughtman, F. Howard Livens, and Oswald Wans, Head of their Oil Engine department who propose and second her initial IMechE application.
She started her employment superintending the selection, control, and welfare of 1,500 female employees. However, her real interest was engineering and after a year she persuaded the directors of the company to let her start as an apprentice in the fitting shops. She was already undertaking part-time courses at Lincoln Technical College. Holmes gained experience as a turner and apart from a break in her training due to active service in France, she worked her way through several roles in the drawing office, working on the requirements of engines up to 500 BHP. In 1919 she was the only woman who was allowed to stay on with the firm.
Her thirst for knowledge led her to Loughborough College in 1919, where she received comprehensive training in engineering, culminating in a degree from the University in London in 1922, making her one of the first women to achieve this. In a discussion on careers for women in engineering she is quoted as saying:
“Training in engineering is a lifelong process which never reaches finality”.
(Parsons, Verena Holmes, 1973)
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Inventions, Patents, and Achievements
After she graduated, she had a stint in America working as a technical journalist and then worked as a freelance designer. Her membership application form shows the various wide ranging patents she took out, even including a deep-sea diving outfit. Her inventions included the Wingfield pneum-thorax apparatus for treating patients with tuberculosis, which was one of the most successful; a surgeon’s headlamp; a poppet valve for steam locomotives; and rotary valves for internal combustion engine. Between 1928 to 1931 she had a tenure at the North British Locomotive Works in Glasgow. Then in 1946 she founded her own firm Holmes and Leather, in Kent, which employed only women. The firm was to create the first practical safety guillotine for paper.
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A Champion for Women
Notably, Holmes championed the cause of women engineers – she was one of the founding members of the Women’s Engineering Society and served as its President in 1930 and 1931. She played a pivotal role in advocating for women’s training and employment opportunities in engineering, penning influential publications like the 1955 “Training and Opportunities for Women in Engineering”.
She worked with the Ministry of Labour and National Service to arrange training courses and to place women with suitable ability in technical posts, holding the position of Headquarters Technical Officer, 1940-1944. She was a key supporter of the next generation of women engineers, successfully proposing the election of Kathleen Cook (Chief Engineer and Managing Director of Wilman Engineering Ltd) who followed in her footsteps as the second woman to attain the class of Member, in 1962.
An Energetic Personality
We get a small picture into her character from a speech she gave as special guest of the Institution of Automobile Engineers Annual Dinner, attending as President of the Women’s Engineering Society. In her speech she says:
Claudia Parsons describes her as ‘a firm feminist’, and ‘possessing an amazing store of nervous and physical energy’.
She goes on to describe Holmes’s skill of public speaking:
“…Verena was often a brilliant speaker. In her clear distinctive voice, and generally abandoning notes, she could hold an audience through her clarity, humour and command of the subject. This was never more marked than at Exeter’s centenary celebrations of Michael Faraday in 1931 … there was an atmosphere of patient tolerance as this elegant woman rose to speak on Michael Faraday, an atmosphere that swiftly changed to one of amazed appreciation … The deep impression she made was long remembered by her audience.”
Parsons (1964) Verena: Through the eyes of her friends
Twenty years after becoming an Associate Member, Holmes attained the class of Member in 1944, marking another milestone in her illustrious career. Her legacy lives on through her trailblazing efforts, inspiring future generations of women engineers.
References
Annual Dinner No 12 1931. (1931). Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers, 26(1). Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub-com.imeche.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.1243/PIAE_PROC_1931_026_016_02
Institution of Mechanical Engineers Membership Proposal Form and Register. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://archives.imeche.org/archive/institution-history/members-gallery/verena-holmes/617475
Mechanical Engineer Records, 1847-1938. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.imeche.org/library-archive/archive-and-artefacts/archive-overview
Parsons, C. (1964). Verena : Through the eyes of her friends. The Woman Engineer Journal, Vol 9, pp. p348-349. Retrieved from https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_9.html#page=349
Parsons, C. (1975, Vol 11). Verena Holmes. Womens Engineering Journal, pp. p364-365. Retrieved from https://twej.theiet.org/twej/WES_Vol_11.html#page=365
Further Reading:
Virtual Archive – Verena Holmes Collection
Magnificent Women, Engineer of the Week, by Nina C. Baker
IMechE Archive Guest Blog from Henrietta Heald
Training and Opportunities for Women in Engineering, Holmes, 1958
Special thanks to the IET Archives and WES for allowing the use of the photograph of Verena Holmes.
IMechE Archive and Library 
This is an amazing account of a brilliant woman and remarkable engineer. What a wonderful legacy for the institution. Thank you.