Victorian Women Doctors
On 8th November 2013 members were treated to a talk by Mrs Toni Mount on ‘Victorian Women Doctors’.
Prior to the Victorian period women were seen to be fitted to be nurses, carers, midwives, even ‘vets’ but not medical doctors as they were perceived, by men, as being incapable. The reasons given were that women …
1. Would never survive the education needed,
2. Were too delicate to deal with the human body
3. Would not keep doctor/patient confidentiality
4. Were too frail to lift or to cope with a patient in pain
5. Would be unable to command the respect that doctors warranted
6. Would lose their femininity and her husband, children and household duties would suffer
In the nineteenth century there was a gradual change in women’s attitudes and Toni illustrated that by reference to three doctors.
1. Dr James Barry. Reference to James Barry seemed a strange way to begin a talk on Victorian women doctors but he was, nevertheless, a fascinating character. Having qualified as a doctor, he joined the British Army and, as a result, travelled widely abroad specialising in surgery, tropical diseases and leprosy and caring for society’s outcasts. He was innovative and was the first British doctor to perform a Caesarean Section operation where both mother and child survived. The operation was carried out before anaesthetics were in common use.
Whilst in South Africa he became very friendly with the Governor, Lord Somerset, a relationship which caused some concerns amongst politicians. Dr Barry vanished from the scene for about eighteen months and there were rumours that he was in St. Helena but there are no records of his presence there.
Barry was promoted to Inspector General of Military Hospitals and when visiting one hospital was appalled at the state of it. The senior nurse, Florence Nightingale, arrived and was reprimanded by Barry who did not bother to dismount from his horse. A possible reason was that he was only about 4’10” tall. He gave clear, direct, instructions as to what was needed to improve conditions but Florence regarded him as the rudest man she had ever met.
Barry died in London in 1861 and had given strict instructions that his body was not to be cleaned up when he died but that he was to be buried as found. His landlady thought otherwise and when preparing to lay the body out discovered to her great surprise that Dr. James Barry was a woman!
With this revelation it was then thought that the eighteen months ostensibly spent in St. Helena was due to Barry having become pregnant and having his, sorry, her baby.
2. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth was born in Bristol 1821. Her father, a member of an independent church, believed in a full education for girls. Consequently Elizabeth was educated in various subjects including English, Latin, Greek and mathematics. Her father owned a sugar refinery which was destroyed in a fire and as a result the whole family emigrated to the USA. Elizabeth’s older sisters had left home by the time that their father had died, leaving a lot of debts, so they returned to the family home in Cincinnati to help.
A dying friend of Elizabeth’s mother, impressed by Elizabeth’s care of her, raised the idea of Elizabeth training to become a doctor. In due course Elizabeth became a music teacher to the family of a former doctor, who let her use his extensive medical library. Various applications that Elizabeth made to medical colleges in New York State were unsuccessful but one small college, The Geneva, accepted her following a surprise resolution of the (all-male) student body to support the application. The Geneva’s financial sponsor had recommended Elizabeth which, no doubt, helped.
Elizabeth spent a summer in an alms-house hospital where typhus was one of the diseases present. There was no internal surgery, no anaesthetics, no specialisms.-After a one-year course she graduated mainly due to the fact that there was not, at that time, a lot to learn. Elizabeth decided to specialise in midwifery and women’s diseases and a cousin persuaded her to go to London. She later went to Paris to train in surgery but the Sorbonne refused to accept her. Not deterred she learnt midwifery by working as a nurse but, sadly, lost the sight in one eye due to an infection caught from a baby and that put paid to her surgical ambitions but she did secure a post at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London.
Amongst her friends in the UK were Michael Faraday, (the scientist), Lord Herschell (the Astronomer General), Florence Nightingale and Lord Byron’s widow.
In due course Elizabeth returned to New York where she opened a special dispensary for the poor but later returned to England where she died at her adopted daughter’s home in Hastings in 1910.
3. Dr. Elizabeth Garrett. Elizabeth was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk in 1836 and, like Elizabeth Blackwell’s father, her father wanted her to have a full education. For a time she had a governess from whom she learnt French. She was inspired to become a doctor after hearing lectures, in 1859, given by Elizabeth Blackwell.
Elizabeth’s older sister, Millicent, became one of the founders of the suffragette movement, which may have helped her determination to qualify as a doctor. Initially she worked as a nurse for six months at the Middlesex Hospital in London. She did well, attaining honours in every subject but men opposed her qualifying as a doctor so, in 1861, she had to leave the Middlesex and find a qualifying authority willing to grant a degree. She found that the Society of Apothecaries could issue a degree and sought to train at St. Andrew’s University in Fife. The Senate returned her fees but ‘student power’ enabled her to return there part-time. Later, however, she was forced to leave and the same thing happened at Edinburgh. She managed to get a job at the London Hospital but, after six months was forced to leave there also.
She managed to work as a nurse at the Middlesex and studied privately. In 1865 she sat the examinations of the Society of Apothecaries, passing with honours and became the first woman to qualify as a doctor in England. She opened a dispensary for sick women and children, three afternoons per week.
In 1868 the Sorbonne in Paris opened all examinations to women and Elizabeth was attracted - would the French that she learnt as a child be up to it? It was a gruelling experience involving seven separate visits to Paris but she succeeded and, in 1870, gained her MD. As a fully qualified doctor she then applied to the Shadwell Children’s Hospital where she was interviewed by james Anderson, a consultant, who, before meeting her was opposed to her being appointed on the staff. However, he was clearly won over, offered her the post and, later, married her!
In 1874 her London dispensary became the New Women’s Hospital, later to be named the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, in her memory.
Elizabeth retired to her home town of Aldeburgh where she became England’s first woman mayor.
Prior to the Victorian period women were seen to be fitted to be nurses, carers, midwives, even ‘vets’ but not medical doctors as they were perceived, by men, as being incapable. The reasons given were that women …
1. Would never survive the education needed,
2. Were too delicate to deal with the human body
3. Would not keep doctor/patient confidentiality
4. Were too frail to lift or to cope with a patient in pain
5. Would be unable to command the respect that doctors warranted
6. Would lose their femininity and her husband, children and household duties would suffer
In the nineteenth century there was a gradual change in women’s attitudes and Toni illustrated that by reference to three doctors.
1. Dr James Barry. Reference to James Barry seemed a strange way to begin a talk on Victorian women doctors but he was, nevertheless, a fascinating character. Having qualified as a doctor, he joined the British Army and, as a result, travelled widely abroad specialising in surgery, tropical diseases and leprosy and caring for society’s outcasts. He was innovative and was the first British doctor to perform a Caesarean Section operation where both mother and child survived. The operation was carried out before anaesthetics were in common use.
Whilst in South Africa he became very friendly with the Governor, Lord Somerset, a relationship which caused some concerns amongst politicians. Dr Barry vanished from the scene for about eighteen months and there were rumours that he was in St. Helena but there are no records of his presence there.
Barry was promoted to Inspector General of Military Hospitals and when visiting one hospital was appalled at the state of it. The senior nurse, Florence Nightingale, arrived and was reprimanded by Barry who did not bother to dismount from his horse. A possible reason was that he was only about 4’10” tall. He gave clear, direct, instructions as to what was needed to improve conditions but Florence regarded him as the rudest man she had ever met.
Barry died in London in 1861 and had given strict instructions that his body was not to be cleaned up when he died but that he was to be buried as found. His landlady thought otherwise and when preparing to lay the body out discovered to her great surprise that Dr. James Barry was a woman!
With this revelation it was then thought that the eighteen months ostensibly spent in St. Helena was due to Barry having become pregnant and having his, sorry, her baby.
2. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth was born in Bristol 1821. Her father, a member of an independent church, believed in a full education for girls. Consequently Elizabeth was educated in various subjects including English, Latin, Greek and mathematics. Her father owned a sugar refinery which was destroyed in a fire and as a result the whole family emigrated to the USA. Elizabeth’s older sisters had left home by the time that their father had died, leaving a lot of debts, so they returned to the family home in Cincinnati to help.
A dying friend of Elizabeth’s mother, impressed by Elizabeth’s care of her, raised the idea of Elizabeth training to become a doctor. In due course Elizabeth became a music teacher to the family of a former doctor, who let her use his extensive medical library. Various applications that Elizabeth made to medical colleges in New York State were unsuccessful but one small college, The Geneva, accepted her following a surprise resolution of the (all-male) student body to support the application. The Geneva’s financial sponsor had recommended Elizabeth which, no doubt, helped.
Elizabeth spent a summer in an alms-house hospital where typhus was one of the diseases present. There was no internal surgery, no anaesthetics, no specialisms.-After a one-year course she graduated mainly due to the fact that there was not, at that time, a lot to learn. Elizabeth decided to specialise in midwifery and women’s diseases and a cousin persuaded her to go to London. She later went to Paris to train in surgery but the Sorbonne refused to accept her. Not deterred she learnt midwifery by working as a nurse but, sadly, lost the sight in one eye due to an infection caught from a baby and that put paid to her surgical ambitions but she did secure a post at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London.
Amongst her friends in the UK were Michael Faraday, (the scientist), Lord Herschell (the Astronomer General), Florence Nightingale and Lord Byron’s widow.
In due course Elizabeth returned to New York where she opened a special dispensary for the poor but later returned to England where she died at her adopted daughter’s home in Hastings in 1910.
3. Dr. Elizabeth Garrett. Elizabeth was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk in 1836 and, like Elizabeth Blackwell’s father, her father wanted her to have a full education. For a time she had a governess from whom she learnt French. She was inspired to become a doctor after hearing lectures, in 1859, given by Elizabeth Blackwell.
Elizabeth’s older sister, Millicent, became one of the founders of the suffragette movement, which may have helped her determination to qualify as a doctor. Initially she worked as a nurse for six months at the Middlesex Hospital in London. She did well, attaining honours in every subject but men opposed her qualifying as a doctor so, in 1861, she had to leave the Middlesex and find a qualifying authority willing to grant a degree. She found that the Society of Apothecaries could issue a degree and sought to train at St. Andrew’s University in Fife. The Senate returned her fees but ‘student power’ enabled her to return there part-time. Later, however, she was forced to leave and the same thing happened at Edinburgh. She managed to get a job at the London Hospital but, after six months was forced to leave there also.
She managed to work as a nurse at the Middlesex and studied privately. In 1865 she sat the examinations of the Society of Apothecaries, passing with honours and became the first woman to qualify as a doctor in England. She opened a dispensary for sick women and children, three afternoons per week.
In 1868 the Sorbonne in Paris opened all examinations to women and Elizabeth was attracted - would the French that she learnt as a child be up to it? It was a gruelling experience involving seven separate visits to Paris but she succeeded and, in 1870, gained her MD. As a fully qualified doctor she then applied to the Shadwell Children’s Hospital where she was interviewed by james Anderson, a consultant, who, before meeting her was opposed to her being appointed on the staff. However, he was clearly won over, offered her the post and, later, married her!
In 1874 her London dispensary became the New Women’s Hospital, later to be named the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, in her memory.
Elizabeth retired to her home town of Aldeburgh where she became England’s first woman mayor.