On Thursday June 15 1905, a group of women pharmacists met at 5 Endsleigh Street in London.  Their aim was to establish an Association of Women Pharmacists.  The group’s objectives would be to discuss questions relating to women’s employment, establish a locum register and a register of all qualified women, and the "furtherance of social intercourse".

“a meeting both historical and novel”
The Chemist and Druggist,
October 21 1905

Members had to hold one of the Society’s certificates and pay a membership fee of 5 shillings if they were a Society member, or 10 shillings if they were not.  Fifty women joined immediately. 

Isabella Clarke (by now Clarke-Keer) was the Association’s first President, with Margaret Buchanan as Vice President.

195 female pharmacists on Register in 1905
(1.2% of 15,948 in total)

This first meeting, described in the Chemist and Druggist as "a meeting both historical and novel", was particularly focused on the problems of women trying to find pharmacy employment.  Although women were now able to become members of the Pharmaceutical Society, there were still concerns about the availability of suitable employment for them, and about the conditions under which they were expected to work.

The Association held their first public meeting on October 17 1905.  One hundred women and 12 men heard Mrs Louise Creighton, who had been the first President of the Union of Women Workers, speak on "The present responsibilities of women."