A Respectable Occupation: - University of Hertfordshire Research ...

was to be avoided; a lady would lose her status as a lady if she engaged in
trade, no matter how delicate it might be. 192 Writing was considered
marginally respectable, as evidenced by the fact that authoresses of the time
often wrote under a pseudonym. 193 McDonald, when speaking about 1878,
asserts that, ―A career on the stage … was not acceptable for an educated or
middle class society woman.‖ 194 Domestic service and factory work were
certainly out of the question, leaving very little that would not seriously
damage the family‘s social standing. 195
It is not surprising therefore that when the opportunity to qualify as
an apothecaries‘ assistant arose, in the mid to late nineteenth century, it
became popular with young women who had an interest in science. Between
1887 and 1920, nearly 4200 women passed the examination and some of
them went on to greater things. Isabella Clarke Keer and Rose Minshull
were the first to register with the Pharmaceutical Society in 1897 having
passed the qualifying examination, Rose Minshull achieving the highest
mark in the ‗preliminary‘ examination in a field of 166 candidates. 196 Mrs
Clarke Keer went on to teach pharmacy at the London School of Medicine
for Women. Their entry into the pharmaceutical profession was not without
difficulty and it was a combination of the determination displayed by these
women and the efforts of a champion, Robert Hampson who was on the
Pharmaceutical Society‘s council, that brought it about after a long struggle.
They were followed by Margaret Buchanan who founded the Association of
192 Hill, Women Alone, p. 55.
193 Reader, Professional Men, p. 167.
194 McDonald, Clara Collet, pp. 28-29.
195 Reader, Professional Men, p. 167.
196 Holloway, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, p. 263.
209