During the First World War Caroline Haslett worked for a boiler company where she received a basic training as an engineer. In 1919, she became the first secretary of the fledgling Women's Engineer Society, which promoted engineering as an ideal profession for women. Her particular interest was electricity, and how this might benefit women by liberating them from household drudgery.
In the early 1920s, few houses had electric light or heating, let alone electrical appliances. The National Grid didn't yet exist. With this in mind, she founded The Electrical Association for Women in 1924, which pioneered such wonders as the "All-Electric House" in Bristol in 1935. In 1945 she was appointed to the British Electricity Authority, and in 1953 became Chairman of the British Electrical Development Association. Her dying wish was that she be cremated by electricity.
