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York
College, she graduated from Edinburgh in engineering in 1936. She worked unpaid for a year for Blyth and Blyth before being put on the payroll at thirty shillings a week.making her the first female senior partner in a UK civil engineering firm in 1948. She was personally responsible for a number of engineering works. She assisted the senior partner designing a range of civil engineering projects, including bridges, drainage and sewerage schemes (e.g. the River Leven water purification works), and industrial projects (e.g. Markinch paper mills for Tullis Russell). The two-level pre-stressed concrete footbridge over the Gala Water at Galashiels included a spiral staircase and a sewer, and the concrete Devonside Bridge curved across the river to Tillicoultry. From the 1960s, the firm worked on examples of Scottish modernist architecture, working with architects from local authorities, and private practices, including some buildings for the University of Edinburgh. On 15 January 1957 she was the first woman to be elected as full member of Britain's senior engineering society, the
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in 1939. She had probably been the first woman to be made a senior partner in a consulting engineering firm in 1948. That this firm was Blyth and Blyth, one of the most prestigious of
Scottish firms, says much for her engineering ability and hard work. Encouraged by her medical father and her school,
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named a 510 tonne, 160-metre-long tunnel boring machine "Mary" after
Fergusson, in honour of her status as the first female fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. It was used between 2018 and 2019 to bore a
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Fergusson continued her engineering work as a consultant, using her fees to create and support a fund to help engineering students. She was active as a member of the
168:. In 1967 Fergusson was part of the organisational committee for the Second International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists. In 1971 she chaired the
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in 1985, for her work in encouraging women to take up engineering careers. At a celebration of
Fergusson's life, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at
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Nina Baker, "Fergusson, Mary Isolen (Molly), in
Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, and Sian Reynolds, eds.,
111:– 30 November 1997, in London) was a British civil engineer, the first female fellow of the
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in 1936, and to complete her training was indentured for two years at Blyth and Blyth of
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the daughter of
Mildred Gladys Mercer and John N. Fraser Fergusson and was brought up in
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She remained with the firm and worked on bridges and other infrastructure projects in
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A portrait of
Fergusson was unveiled in June 2015 in the William Arrol building at
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502:"Second International Conference of Women Engineers Conference Committees"
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Plaque to
Fergusson at the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering
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International women in science: a biographical dictionary to 1950
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532:"Mary Isolen Fergusson OBE 1914–1997 Pioneering Civil Engineer"
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as part of a project to secure 20% of
Britain's gas supplies.
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480:"Mary Fergusson - Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)"
410:," presentation at the University of Strathclyde (2006)
626:"National Grid's Humber tunnel reaches halfway point"
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602:"Heriot Watt University: Edinburgh campus map"
172:Lecture, "Engineering the Environment" at the
326:The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women
733:Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
683:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
578:"Heriot-Watt University Honorary Graduates"
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408:Two Hundred Years of Women Bridge Builders
328:(University of Edinburgh Press 2007): 117.
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184:She retired from full-time work in 1978.
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339:"First woman civil engineer remembered"
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566:(Supplement). 26 June 1979. p. 5.
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456:(4): 21. Spring 1957. Archived from
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651:"Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame"
191:and other community organisations.
123:Molly Fergusson was born at Stoke,
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688:Engineers from Devonport, Plymouth
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259:In 2019 she was inducted into the
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261:Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame
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135:equipment. She was head girl at
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446:"Woman Engineer's Achievement"
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166:Institution of Civil Engineers
161:Institution of Civil Engineers
113:Institution of Civil Engineers
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147:, unpaid for the first year.
100:Mary (Molly) Isolen Fergusson
723:20th-century women engineers
421:"36: Mary (molly) fergusson"
387:wealothianwomensforum.org.uk
218:She was awarded an honorary
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131:, where her father made
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693:English civil engineers
383:"Mary Isolen Fergusson"
141:University of Edinburgh
235:Heriot-Watt University
228:Heriot-Watt University
224:Heriot-Watt University
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151:Civil engineering work
286:. ICE. Archived from
213:1979 Birthday Honours
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241:is named after her.
115:, elected in 1957.
107:(28 April 1914, in
25:Molly Fergusson OBE
563:The London Gazette
538:on 11 October 2016
506:The Woman Engineer
450:The Woman Engineer
371:: 21. Spring 1957.
365:The Woman Engineer
207:She was appointed
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195:Honours and awards
425:Magnificent Women
239:Hall of residence
220:Doctor of Science
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47:28 April 1914
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659:. Retrieved
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63:(1997-11-30)
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703:1997 deaths
698:1914 births
661:19 February
558:"No. 47888"
133:radiography
677:Categories
635:18 January
610:11 October
586:11 October
542:11 October
516:11 October
430:18 January
392:18 January
267:References
252:under the
237:, where a
222:degree at
180:Later life
82:Occupation
145:Edinburgh
125:Devonport
157:Scotland
464:20 June
345:26 June
315:, p. 98
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211:in the
657:. 2012
512:(6): 3
250:tunnel
68:London
605:(PDF)
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109:Stoke
77:Molly
51:Stoke
663:2022
637:2019
612:2016
588:2016
544:2016
518:2016
466:2019
432:2020
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129:York
58:Died
40:Born
209:OBE
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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