Surrounded by the friendly female faces at TVF, it can be easy to forget the journey that women before us went through to be respected as scientists. One such woman was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who overcame a host of obstacles to become the first female in England to obtain a medical degree.
Growing up, Elizabeth rejected expectations that she should become a housewife, and aspired to enter the world of medicine after meeting the first female doctor to graduate in the US, Dr Elizabeth Blackwell. Despite being formally educated, Elizabeth was rejected from all the medical schools that she applied to, and instead enrolled on a nursing training programme at Middlesex Hospital. However, due to the high levels of complaints from her male colleagues, Elizabeth was removed from the course. Despite this, she took the appropriate examinations and qualified as a nurse in 1865, following which, the society amended its rules to completely ban women from enrolling.
With the British Medical Register refusing to accept females, Elizabeth taught herself French and went to study at the University of Paris, finally obtaining a medical degree in 1870. It wasn’t until 1876 that an act was passed in Britain permitting women to enter the medical profession, and Elizabeth was officially recognised as a doctor by the British Medical Register, aged 40. During this period, she had not only continued practising medicine, but had co-founded the New Hospital for Women in London in 1872, the first hospital to be staffed entirely by female doctors for the treatment of female patients. In 1883, Elizabeth was appointed Dean of the London School of Medicine for Women, now part of University College London’s Medical School.
Even after retiring from medicine in 1902, Elizabeth’s achievements were not over, and she became the first female mayor in England, in the coastal town of Aldeburgh in 1908.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s determination and commitment has helped to pave the way for many female doctors and medical professionals, including her daughter, Louisa Garrett Anderson, who became the Chief Surgeon of the Women’s Hospital Corps. Despite 2018 seeing 100 years since some women were given the right to vote in Britain, the feminist debate is on-going, and remembering the plight of women like Elizabeth is as important as ever.
By Rachel Cartwright
