Nina Cameron Graham

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Nina Cameron Walley (née Graham)
University of Liverpool Bachelor of Engineering graduation portrait photograph of Nina Cameron Graham, 1912
University of Liverpool Bachelor of Engineering graduation portrait photograph of Nina Cameron Graham, 1912
Born
Nina Cameron Graham

(1891-03-11)11 March 1891[1]
Liscard, Cheshire, England
Died24 March 1974(1974-03-24) (aged 83)
Winnipeg, Canada
CitizenshipBritish
EducationUniversity of Liverpool Bachelor of Engineering

Nina Cameron Walley (née Graham; 11 March 1891[1]-24 March 1974) was the first woman to receive an engineering degree in Britain.[2][3][4]

Early life and education[]

Nina Cameron Walley (née Graham) was born in Liscard, Cheshire to Mary Cameron Graham (née Slater) and Captain Charles Graham, a former sea captain and chairman at Seamen's and Boatmen's Friend Society.[5][6] Walley attended the University of Liverpool on general BSc before switching to engineering. She received 2nd division result on the final examinations, including "a gruelling six-hour exam" where she had to design a railway bridge, that awarded her a degree of Bachelor of Engineering.[7][8][9]

Life in Canada[]

After graduating, Walley travelled to Canada and on 12 October 1912, she married Cecil Stephen Walley (1890-1960), a fellow University of Liverpool engineering student, who had graduated two years earlier in 1910.[7][5][10] Walley was driven to the church and given away by her cousin, Colin Inkster, then Sheriff of Winnipeg.[5] On their honeymoon, the Walleys surveyed for dam construction in Qu'Appelle valley in Saskatchewan.[7] Walley did not practice professionally as an engineer but assisted her husband, a fellow civil engineer. In a 1965 interview she said, I used my knowledge both to help my husband, also a civil engineering, and my children when they were studying mathematics and physics at school.[7]

The Walleys had 10 children together, five sons and five daughters. Two of Walley's sons were killed while in service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War: Flying Officer Keith Minshull Walley was killed in service in April 1943, aged 20, and Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Richard Walley was killed in action in France in October 1944 aged 28.[11][12]

Walley lived in Winnipeg from 1912 until her death in March 1974.[13]

Legacy[]

The University of Liverpool awards an annual Nina Cameron Graham prize to the highest ranking female student in their Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree.[14]

References[]

  1. ^ a b General Register Office. "England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes: Birkenhead, 1891, vol 8a, page 594". Ancestry. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  2. ^ Yorkshire Telegraph and Star, Wednesday Evening 9 October 1912.
  3. ^ "Only lady engineer (page3)". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 9 October 1912.
  4. ^ "Nina Cameron Walley (Nee Graham), First Woman to Graduate in Engineering, 1912". digitalcollections.uwinnipeg.ca. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  5. ^ a b c "Captain Charles Graham". Archived from the original on 2017-07-12.
  6. ^ "Mary Cameron Graham". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Bletcher, Mary (5 June 1965). "Degree in engineering helped mother of 10". Winnipeg Free Press. p. 15.
  8. ^ "ESC - Faculty of Engineering". sca-archives.liverpool.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
  9. ^ University of Liverpool archives PUB/1/1/3/18 (1924-25 copy) University Calendar: ‘1912, Graham, Nina Cameron (Mrs C. S. Walley)’ under the category of those awarded Bachelor of Engineering degrees
  10. ^ "GIRL GRADUATE'S ROMANCE". Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939). 11 November 1912. p. 6. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  11. ^ Canada, Veterans Affairs (20 February 2019). "Keith Minshull Walley - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada". www.veterans.gc.ca. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  12. ^ Canada, Veterans Affairs (20 February 2019). "Kenneth Richard Walley - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada". www.veterans.gc.ca. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  13. ^ "SINCLAIR". Mothers of the Resistance 1869–1870. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Our students get award for academic excellence - KLiK". www.klik.com.my. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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