Beryl Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle

Beryl Catherine Platt, Baroness Platt of Writtle HonFIMechE (née Myatt; 18 April 1923 – 1 February 2015) was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. Her background was in engineering, and she worked in aeronautics and aviation safety. She retained a strong interest in science and technology, particularly the role and advancement of women in these fields.

Early life Beryl Catherine Myatt was born at Leigh-on-Sea on 18 April 1923. Platt was educated at Westcliff High School for Girls in Southend-On-Sea, Essex where her favourite subject was mathematics. The headmistress of Westcliff predicted that this "outstanding pupil" had a university future ahead of her at Cambridge but, despite excellent exam results, the outbreak of the Second World War led to a hiatus in Platt's education.

Education

In July 1941, the government announced a state bursary – including £25 per week pocket money – for engineering undergraduates to help the war effort, and in the hope that more engineers would be needed to re-build Britain after the war. Platt is quoted as describing this sum as "a fortune to me at the time", and chose to switch her studies to Aeronautical Engineering.

Platt's first job was at Hawkers Experimental Flight Test Department, where she was one of only three women in the department, working alongside men who had left school at fourteen but were highly skilled technicians and craftsmen.

In 1949, Platt married Stewart Sydney Platt, marking the end of her professional career in aeronautical engineering. Platt became a housewife, and a mother of two children. and joined the House of Lords on 28 May 1981. She chose the title Baroness Platt of Writtle, after her home village in Essex, and a cogwheel as her coat of arms, symbolising her life of service as an engineer.

Platt was a member of the European Communities Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men between 1983 and 1988 and became chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in 1983. In 1984, as a result of encouragement from the Finniston Report, the EOC together with the Engineering Council set up WISE – Women into Science and Engineering.

Platt was an active member of the House of Lords and between 1990 and 2008 she served on a number of committees relating to science, technology and engineering, including the Select Committee on Science and Technology.

Honours and appointments

Platt was a member of the council of the City and Guilds of London Institute between 1974 and 1994. She was a member of the Cambridge University Appointments Board between 1975 and 1979. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1978 Birthday Honours.

Platt has been awarded numerous of honorary fellowships and doctorates including an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Hon.F.I.Mech.E.) in 1984, an honorary degree of Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) by City University, London, in 1984 an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) by Bradford University, an honorary degree of Doctor of Technology (D.Tech.) by Brunel University in 1986, an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) by University of Cambridge in 1987, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (F.R.Eng.)

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