The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade

Just a few days ago we got an email from Dr Ricky Carvel at the University of Edinburgh to let us know that a room in their brand spanking new building has been named after Hertha Ayrton.

The Engineering Forum opened for the first time this week – and here she is!

It’s particularly wonderful news for two reasons. 

Firstly, because Ricky is a Senior Lecturer in Fire Dynamics at the School of Engineering. That makes him the perfect academic to highlight the founder of the first all-female fire brigade, and give the next generation of engineers and fire safety experts a chance to discover her legacy too. His department is so great it was recently awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education for our 50 years of Fire Safety Education. Hertha would be very proud. 

Secondly, this has only happened because of our musical. For real!  

Ricky told us that back 2024, he heard an episode of A Podcast Of Unnecessary Detail where Helen talked about Hertha Ayrton, and played a demo of “Put Out The Fire” from The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade. You can watch a concert performance of it here, from 5 minutes in. The song happens just moments after our main characters put out a fire in a hay field next to Girton College, using whatever improvised tools they could lay their hands on. Hertha then sets about persuading her friends to take the initiative and start their own fire crew to protect Girton, and themselves. The rest, as they say, is history.  

Just after this podcast episode came out, the School of Engineering asked for suggestions of notable engineers that could feature in their new £52 million teaching building. Ricky threw Hertha Ayrton’s name into the ring, and two years later, the building has opened and a room is duly named after her. 

All this is perfect timing, because 2026 is a big year for celebrating the life and legacy of Hertha Ayrton, born Sarah Phoebe Marks on 28th April 1854. It’s 120 years since the Royal Society awarded her the Hughes Medal for contribution to science – the first time the medal was awarded to a woman – and 100 years since her biography by journalist and fellow suffrage campaigner Evelyn Sharp was published. 

We’re working together with a group of History of Science academics, archivists and enthusiasts to create MAKING MARKS: THE RIPPLE OF A STEM PIONEER.

It’s our way of highlighting Hertha Ayrton and her circle throughout 2026 by sharing every Hertha-related event and activity we can find. There’s lots going on, from Wikithons organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, to self-guided walking tours from English Heritage – and musical performances from the Fire Brigade musical, of course.  

Head to our MAKING MARKS LINKTREE and Events Page to find out what’s happening.

And if you want to join the celebrations, you can make something happen where you are too!