Grace C. Frankland

Born Grace Coleridge Toynbee on December 4, 1858, she was the daughter of the noted surgeon Joseph Toynbee. After marrying the bacteriologist Percy Frankland in 1882, she became deeply involved in the fast-developing science of bacteriology and built a career of research and writing at a time when women in science often received too little recognition.

Working closely with Percy Frankland, she studied microorganisms in water and air and co-wrote important books including Micro-Organisms in Water and Pasteur. She also wrote Bacteria in Daily Life, a book that helped general readers understand how microbes affected health, hygiene, and modern life.

Frankland was also part of the wider movement for women in science. She was among the nineteen women scientists who signed the 1904 petition asking the Chemical Society to admit female fellows. She died on October 5, 1946, and is remembered as both a careful microbiologist and a gifted science communicator.