Laura Hunter (nee Thorpe ) BSc, MSc (1897 -1968)
Are moths eating your jumpers? Are flies and wasps invading your kitchen? Why not turn to Laura Hunter, pest expert, scientist, educator and author for advice?
Early life and education
Born in 1897 to Polly and Levi Thorpe, Laura was educated in Baildon, Bradford and at Salts Girls High School. She became a pupil teacher at the Central School in Shipley in 1915 and two years later passed the Intermediate Examination for the BSc at Liverpool University.
Alongside her studies Laura sang solo and played the organ, performing in local churches and at concerts for soldiers wounded during the First World War. The Shipley Times and Express reports that she appeared with the Baildon Orchestral Society in 1918 at the Field House Auxiliary Hospital.
In 1919 she graduated from Liverpool University and was awarded the Isaac Roberts’ Scholarship allowing her to continue her studies in zoology.
Early Career
At the time of 1921 Census Laura was living in Anfield, Liverpool and teaching at The Holt Secondary School. She later went on to lecture in zoology at University of North Wales, Bangor. Laura there met fellow lecturer Dr Louis Hunter and they married in Ben Rhydding, Ilkley in 1926.
Publication
After her marriage Laura joined Leicester College of Domestic Science as a lecturer in Biology and Hygiene. It was there she was awarded the Annie Edison Memorial scholarship, which resulted in her influential book Domestic Pests : What They Are, How To Remove Them.
Why does bread and jam go mouldy? Why have I got dry rot? Why do children get headlice? Questions like these convinced Laura that there was a public need for a manual on the unwelcome guests that invade our homes.
Laura’s book was published in 1938 by John Bale, Sons & Curnow Ltd and illustrated throughout. Chapters considered insects and mites (including bed bugs), spiders, rodents and mould. Comprehensive, practical and accessible the book appealed to housewives, students and scientists.
Later life
Laura was determined to share her knowledge beyond academic settings and continued to lecture in villages around Leicestershire. A member of the Soroptimists, she became the first woman to address the Leicester Round Table in 1936.
During Second World War Laura turned her attention to public health and nutrition lecturing on both ‘Catering’ and ‘Food and Health In Wartime’. She urged women to be inventive with their cooking, to grow more vegetables, reduce refined foods and minimize kitchen waste.
In 1958, during a royal visit to Leicester University, it was reported that Laura could not curtsy to the Queen owing to a broken leg. Instead, Laura had to greet Her Majesty with a handshake from her wheelchair.
Laura passed away in Leicestershire in September 1968 leaving £9,736 and also a legacy of practical advice and information that is still relevant today.
Tracey Williams, 2026
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to:
Local historian Colin Coates for his biographical timeline of Laura Hunter