Connie Ford (1912-1998) graduated from the RVC in 1933 at a time when there were still few women in the profession. She initially set up in practice on her own in southeast London, but this was only ever intended to be a temporary measure and she sold the practice in 1941. Her career was interrupted by World War Two, and she originally assisted the war effort by working as an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) ambulance driver, but managed to transfer to the Women’s Land Army. She had previously had job applications rejected on the grounds that such physical labour was deemed unsuitable for a woman, and wanted to use this as an opportunity to prove to be male-dominated profession that women could handle tough physical work.
In 1942 she was accepted in a temporary role assisting in the veterinary research laboratory at the Midland Agricultural College at Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire. After further temporary work in similar positions she finally achieved her ambition to become a Veterinary Investigation Officer. She held responsibility for the whole of the East Midlands region, and would remain in this post until her retirement in 1972.
During her career Connie undertook considerable research into disease and fertility in cattle, investigating possible links to environmental factors such as soil type, pasture management and water supply. Her paper on Nutritional Factors and Bovine Infertility in the East Midlands was published in the British Veterinary Journal in May 1956, which led to her delivering talks on the subject of links between diet and fertility from 1957 onwards. Her 1964 paper on Infertility in Farm Animals in Britain was also very well received across the profession.
Coming soon
We’re working on digitising our collection of Connie Ford’s papers.
These digitised papers focus on her correspondence during the beginning of her career and give an insight into what it was like for women in the profession in the 1940s.