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First Cambridge outing for all-women fire brigade musical songs

By Shivani Rawat

August 31, 2026 4 Min Read

Cambridge outing for fire brigade musical songs

40 minutes ago

Katy Prickett

The musical tells the story of an all-women fire brigade set up by 19th Century university students

Brian Sayle An image from a production of a musical showing the silhouettes of five women standing in a line on a stage, highlighted in red smoke. Only the left shoulder of the woman on the far left can be seen, but the other women are all raising their right arms. — The musical tells the story of an all-women fire brigade set up by 19th Century university students

Songs from a musical which celebrates a 19th Century physics student will be heard in the city where she studied for the first time.

The musical tells the story of how Hertha Ayrton founded an all-women fire brigade in 1879 at Girton College, then a women’s college at Cambridge University.

Music from The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade musical will be heard at an Open Cambridge event at the university’s Whipple Museum in September.

Co-creator and lyricist Helen Arney said: “We’ve been working on doing something in Cambridge for so, so long and to finally get there is so lovely.”

It was founded by Hertha Ayrton (standing on the left with a bucket) and was run along professional lines with regular training and real equipment

Courtesy of The Mistress and Fellows, Girton College, Cambridge A sepia-toned black and white image of eight women in the Girton College fire brigade, outside and against the corner of an ivy-clad building. They are surrounded by fire equipment. Two seated women are holding ropes, there is a pump in the middle, a third seated woman is holding a hat. Two standing women are holding buckets and one of the women is perched on a ladder leaning on the wall — It was founded by Hertha Ayrton (standing on the left with a bucket) and was run along professional lines with regular training and real equipment

Alison Giles, the museum’s learning coordinator, said bringing music into the museum was “definitely not something we’d usually do”.

“But we like to collaborate with others who bring along something that isn’t our usual skill set and it’s a delight to work with other people who research women scientists,” she added.

Whipple Museum of the History of Science takes its name from Robert Stewart Whipple (1871-1953), who gave his collection of 1,000 scientific instruments to the university in 1944, along with a similar number of rare books.

The musical, which had its debut at the University of Lincoln in May, also focuses on four other pioneering scientists who first studied at Girton College

Brian Sayle Four actors dressed in white blouses and with their hair up are standing on a stage. Four of them are looking up at the fifth woman who is climbing a ladder. — The musical, which had its debut at the University of Lincoln in May, also focuses on four other pioneering scientists who first studied at Girton College

This year’s Open Cambridge event is marking the 120th anniversary of Ayrton being awarded the Royal Society’s prestigious Hughes Medal – the first and only woman in the entire 20th Century to receive the honour.

She was an electrical engineer, mathematician, physicist and inventor, as well as an active suffrage campaigner.

Giles said: “We’re calling the event Making Marks, because Hertha Ayrton was born Phoebe Marks.

“Dr Patricia Farra, a leading expert on Ayrton, will talk about her specifically and flesh out that story, alongside interactive family talks and hands-on activities.”

Women were not able to earn Cambridge degrees for their studies until 1948, after male students objected in 1897 (above)

Getty Images A black and white image showing a street packed with men wearing hats in 1897 in Cambridge after the vote to deny women degrees. To the right can just be seen a corner of the Senate House. In the middle is a banner strung off another building saying 'here's no place for you maids' and on the far right an effigy of a woman is strung up above the crowds. — Women were not able to earn Cambridge degrees for their studies until 1948, after male students objected in 1897 (above)

While the museum does not have any of her instruments – “anything to do with arc lighting is mostly lethally dangerous” – it does have a fume cabinet that once belonged to Ida Freund, another eminent scientist featured in the musical, Giles added.

Arney said: “Freund was an orphan with one leg, dumped at Girton by her guardian, who fell in love with Girton and teaching and taught chemistry at Newnham [another women-only Cambridge college] for decades after.

“Her fume cabinet sucked poisonous air out of the atmosphere during experiments – and our songs will be performed nearby, which is just lovely.”

During the event, singer-songwriter Noa Shakhar will perform the Ayrton role, accompanied by Girton graduate and organ scholar Felix Elliot, who is now a musical director in theatre and musicals.

The other pioneering Girton science students featured in the musical are astronomer Annie Russell Maunder, botanist Ethel Sargant and mathematician Charlotte Scott.

Making Marks will take place during Open Cambridge on 12 September. It is supported by University of Cambridge Museums Arts Council England Fund.

Running a fire brigade was one of many ways the Girton students pushed against Victorian society’s attempts to limit women’s opportunities

The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade A stylised drawing of a bright red woman in late Victorian dress climbing a yellow ladder. She has a yellow rope over her shoulder. The image background is deep blue coloured — Running a fire brigade was one of many ways the Girton students pushed against Victorian society’s attempts to limit women’s opportunities

First Cambridge outing for all-women fire brigade musical songs

Cambridge outing for fire brigade musical songs

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