Mildred May Gostling
| Mildred May Gostling | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 December 1873 Stowmarket, Suffolk |
| Died | 19 February 1962 (aged 88) Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. |
| Other names | Mildred Mills |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Education |
Royal Holloway College Newnham College |
| Spouse(s) | William Hobson Mills (m. 1903–59) |
| Children | 4 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Carbohydrate chemistry |
| Institutions | Royal Holloway College |
| Academic advisors | Henry Fenton |
Mildred May Gostling (15 December 1873 – 19 February 1962), also published under her married name Mildred Mills, was an English chemist who completed research in carbohydrate chemistry. She was one of the nineteen signatories on a letter from professional female chemists to the Chemical Society (later the Royal Society of Chemistry) requesting that women be accepted as Fellows to the Society.
Gostling was the daughter of George and Sarah Gostling and was born in Stowmarket, Suffolk, in 1873, and lived on Ipswich Street, Stowmarket. Her father was a pharmaceutical chemist and dental surgeon. She attended the Royal Holloway College from 1893 to 1897, obtaining a BSc in Chemistry. She was most likely taught there by Elizabeth Eleanor Field. After graduating from Royal Holloway with a BSc (First Class), she was awarded a Bathurst Studentship, which were founded in 1882 for the encouragement of advanced work in any of the natural sciences at Newnham College, Cambridge. She completed her studentship from 1899 to 1900 working for Henry Fenton, and returned to Royal Holloway in 1901, to take up a position as Demonstrator in Chemistry. She resigned her position in 1903 and married William Hobson Mills. Mills had recently been appointed to the Chemical Department of Northern Polytechnic as a lecturer in chemistry. By 1911, the couple had 4 young children, and lived with 2 servants at their home in Crouch End, in North London. Two of her daughters would later be students at Newnham, and a third later became a staff member there. Gostling died at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 19 February 1962.
Gostling’s research with Fenton involved the study of the action of acids on carbohydrates, and in particular, cellulose. She co-published 4 papers with Fenton and a subsequent note on her own. In general terms, this work explored the nature of reaction of acids with carbohydrates, and in particular the reason for an intense purple colour observed on the action of acids with cellulose based carbohydrates. This contribution was detailed in Fenton’s obituary:
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