Katherine M King

The significant gap between her qualifications merits further research, but perhaps might be explained by her early work in hospitals at a distance from London.

It was advice that she took herself: having seemingly been based in Hull around 1913, when she is mentioned in The Chemist and Druggist on 27 December giving a report of the conference of women workers held in Hull to the AWP meeting at Gordon Hall: “Miss King gave short abstracts of the papers read, and commented on them and the discussions in a humorous manner.”[3] In 1915, Miss King is listed in the audience at the meeting of the Chemists’ Association in Royal Institution Liverpool.

In the announcement of her joint proprietorship of the Gordon Hall School, in November 1921, she is described as “late of Leicester Royal Infirmary.”[6] From 1921, she remained London-based for the rest of her working life.

[7] In the 1939 Register, carried out nationally to record the civilian population on 29 September 1939, both Elsie Hooper and Katherine King are to be found at 43 Belsize Avenue, London.

Katherine King is aged 58 and described as “Pharmaceutical Chemist and ARP [Air Raid Patrol] Hampstead.” Once she was based in London, she seems to have played a committed role at Association of Women Pharmacist events, mentioned in reports throughout the 1920s.