Winifred Adams

The first woman chemist hired by Horlicks Ltd. was Winifred Elizabeth Adams.47 Adams, born on 10 November 1909 in Wandsworth, London, was the daughter of Herbert Edward Adams, a teacher at Dulwich College, and Winifred Rackham, a preparatory school Mistress. She was educated at Clapham High School (a GPDSC school), then studied at the Chelsea Polytechnic before entering Newnham to study biochemistry in 1929. 

Graduating in 1933, Adams was hired by Horlicks Ltd. of Slough as an Assistant Chemist. She was the first woman to be appointed to their Research Staff, and an object of some suspicion to her male colleagues in the early years. 47(a) Promoted to Senior Chemist in 1940 and then to Chief Chemist in 1948, she had to retire in 1964, the mandatory retirement age for women staff then being 55. 

Outside of her professional life, Adams was a good musician, and she formed a quartet with her parents and her only sister (a professional cellist). She was an avid traveller, particularly to Canada and the Shetland Islands. After retirement, she moved to Brighton and became active with conservation groups, dying on 15 July 1994, aged 84 years. 

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We have chosen four individuals in this category Ethel Beeching (Mars Confections Ltd.), Mamie Olliver (Chivers and Co.), Winifred Adams (Horlicks Ltd.), and Enid Bradford (Marmite Food Extract Company, Ltd. and J. Lyons Co. Ltd.). 

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