Better halves of the Coachmakers – Anne Wallbank

Although I used to write for a science abstracts journal, writing something for Coachlines was quite a different matter so I decided to draw inspiration from some of the amazing women in my family who had incredible adventures and tackled life with gusto.

It all began with my great-grandmother, widowed at eight months pregnant in 1879 in Killarney, Ireland. She was determined that her daughters would be educated and so make their own way in life. The eldest, May, gained a scholarship to Newnham College, Cambridge where she was awarded an Honours in both parts of the Moral Science Tripos in 1899. A couple of years later she was in India as companion to the Maharini of Baroda and tutor to her children. Following this came several years in Egypt, in charge of education for girls and women and later she became head mistress at Bolton School for Girls. Some years ago, Eric and I visited Baroda (now Vadodara) and visited the palace where May had worked and met the current Maharajah.

Geraldine, the youngest, was my grandmother, and took an external degree in science with London University (becoming a botanist) while studying at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. Whilst there she met the redoubtable Millicent, a science teacher and research chemist at Bristol University, who had designed the new science block at the school. At the age of 52, Millicent took up mountaineering becoming one of the first women to climb Mont Blanc, and enjoyed nothing better than camping, sea swimming and cycling. Millicent’s brother Archie, a doctor, was introduced to Geraldine and a few months after their marriage in 1908, they moved to Uganda where they had four children.

My mother was nursing in Uganda, having returned to the land of her birth, when she met my father who was working as a civil engineer with the East African Railways. I was born in Tanganyika (as it was) and spent the first seven years of my life moving around Uganda, Kenya and back again to Tanganyika. Once back in England our family continued to move around, to Leeds, Leicestershire, and Surrey. I went to Swansea University to study geology and oceanography, and while there I made friends with a girl who went on to house-share with Eric in Fleet, when they were all in the early stages of their careers. I was invited to a party at the house and, as they say, the rest is history. Since our marriage we have also lived in many places – Pembrokeshire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Melbourne, Australia and now Dorset. Before our children arrived, we spent a year backpacking around the world.

Being part of the Coachmakers has been another fascinating journey and I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many interesting people. Since Eric became involved with the charity committee, it has been rewarding to see the help given to young people in furthering their careers in STEM subjects, particularly the women – just as my great aunts and grandmother gained success through their educations.