Thomazine Browne Lockyer 1852 – 1923
Thomazine Mary Browne (also known as Mary Thomasina and under married names of Broadbent and Lockyer)
Campaigner for education for women, women’s suffrage and urban housing; astronomer.
1852 – 9 September 1943
Education
Educated by tutors and governesses.
1868 Attended Queen’s College and awarded a scholarship enabling her to attend lectures in natural philosophy and astronomy.
Attended physics and applied mathematics courses at University College London (UCL).
Some Key Achievements and Interests
Active in social work campaigning for better urban housing. Worked with Octavia Hill.
Co-founded College Hall with sister Annie Leigh Browne which opened in 1882 in 1 Byng Place later moving to Malet Street. It was granted incorporation in 1886. The residence catered for women students at UCL or the London School of Medicine for Women and aimed to provide a community experience. Initially, the Hall only had 10 students but numbers grew. Students applying for a place did not need to provide character references. A governing committee, on which students were represented, had to authorise the dismissing of any student.
Listen to an interview with Amara Thornton on the founding of College Hall and Chenies Street Residence: College Hall and Chenies Street Chambers – Pascal Theatre Company (pascal-theatre.com)
On the Council of College Hall and 1895 appointed honorary secretary of the Hall.
1905 Became Honorary Assistant Treasurer for the British Science Guild set up by her second husband Norman Lockyer to campaign for more government investment in science education and research.
1905 Volunteered in solar eclipse expedition to Mallorca.
1918 Published botanical paper in Nature.
Involved with her husband in the building of an observatory for astrophysical research in Salcombe Regis.
Suffragist and Treasurer of the Women’s Local Government Society helping to organise suffrage marches.
1923 Elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (women were first accepted in 1916).
Issues
College Hall was not initially recognised by the University of London.
When she married Bernard Brodhurst, 31 years her senior, acquired six stepchildren. After his death in 1900 she married Normal Lockyer acquiring seven stepchildren.
Active in campaigning for suffrage but wanted to do so through political channels rather than take the more radical action planned by suffragettes.
Connection to Bloomsbury
Female networks
Sister Annie Leigh Browne, Hertha Ayrton, Mary Kilgour, Mrs Barnett at Toynbee Hall, Mary Carpenter, Maria Georgina Grey, Emily Anne Shireff, Hertha Ayrton.
Further reading
Obituary in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 104, p.91: