Early Life and Education
Hertha Ayrton was born Phoebe Sarah Marks at 6 Queen Street, Portsea, Hampshire, England on 28 April 1854. She was the daughter of a seamstress, Alice Theresa, and a watchmaker and jeweller, Levi Marks. At the age of nine, Sarah was invited by her aunts, who ran a school in north-west London, to live with her cousins and be educated with them. Through her cousins she was introduced to science and mathematics, and by the time she was sixteen she was working as a governess. She attended Girton College, Cambridge where she studied mathematics and was coached by Richard Glazebrook. She was supported in her application by George Eliot who was working on Daniel Deronda. One of the Jewish characters, Minah, is said to be based on Ayrton. During her time at Cambridge, Ayrton constructed a sphygmomanometer (pulse recorder), led the choral society, founded the fire brigade, and with Charlotte Scott, Girton's first wrangler, formed a mathematical club. In 1880, Ayrton passed the Mathematical Tripos but was not granted a degree because, at this time, Cambridge gave only certificates and not degrees to women. She successfully completed an external examination and received a B.Sc. degree from the University of London in 1881.
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