Lady Rachel MacRobert

Great Lives

BBC

History, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Lady Rachel MacRobert was born Rachel Workman in Massachusetts in 1884. She was sent to study in the UK where she developed a passion for geology, and attended the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Geological Society despite women not being allowed. She became Lady Rachel MacRobert through marriage to Alexander MacRobert in 1911. He was thirty years her senior and a successful businessman. When he was knighted Lady MacRobert refused to attend the ceremony saying "I will bow to no man." They had three sons who all died whilst flying, two of whom in active service. In response Lady MacRobert paid for a plane, 'MacRobert's Reply' to be commissioned in their memory. She ran her husband's businesses in India after his death and bred cattle on the family estate in Aberdeenshire.

Choosing Lady Rachel MacRobert is the Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dr Hayaatun Sillem. When Hayaatun discovered that the MacRobert Award for engineering was named after a woman she began looking into her life and discovered an independent visionary who was once described as "charmingly volcanic." But it's her response to the loss of her three sons which Hayaatun admires most, praising its defiance and also how it seized agency from a situation that could have easily made her a victim. Gordon Masterton from Edinburgh University and Trustee of The MacRobert Trust joins the discussion and says after a recent speech to launch an AI version of Lady MacRobert young women came up to him and said "Who would have thought she was such a badass."

Presenter: Matthew Parris Produced by Toby Field for BBC Studios Audio

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:30.3	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:37.0	In this series, we've explored the lives of such luminaries as Bruce Forsyth, Anton Gaudy and Emma Queen of England, but one of the joys of this
0:47.0	program is that I get the opportunity to find out about lesser-known lives, individuals whose names you might not recognize but who did
0:55.7	extraordinary things. And today's subject is for me one of those lives, born Rachel Workman in Massachusetts in 1884, she died Lady Rachel
1:07.7	McRobbert in Scotland in 1954. Now nominating Lady Mc Robert is the CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dr Hayatum
1:18.6	Silem.
1:19.6	Hiatum Welcome.
1:21.0	When did you find out about the life of Lady Mac Robert how did you
1:24.4	encounter her so to speak well it's very interesting because I encountered
1:28.9	Lady Mac Robert without realizing it was her so for many years I was familiar with what's called the
1:34.0	Mac Robert Award. This is quite well known in engineering and to my great shame I
1:38.3	probably known about it for about a decade before I realized that
1:42.4	Mac Robert referred to Lady McRobbert rather than a Mr
1:46.2	McRobbert or a Lord McRobbert as I had become used to because the history of
1:50.0	engineering is of course rather male-dominated and so I hadn't encountered many awards
	...

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