Mary (May) Brodrick (1858-1933) was a pioneer Egyptologist and a keen geographer. She spent most of her time in life in Egypt, associating with the likes of Cromer and Kitchener, and playing some part in British colonial rule. The culmination was when she travelled in state from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum and back, taking the salute at the annual Gordon Memorial Service. Mary has several important connections to Bloomsbury, including that of having been the first woman lecturer at the British Museum. Although she had initially studied Egyptology in Paris, she later became a fee-paying student at UCL residing at College Hall, which was then located in Byng Place. Moreover, her legacy lives on in Bloomsbury today: on her death she would bequeath part of her library to College Hall and her personal collection of antiquities to the Petrie Museum.
There will be a display of books relating to the talk on display from 5.30pm and after the talk for you to browse through.
