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Society Ladies - a Prosopographic Study. Part 2
Society Ladies - a prosopographic study. Part 2 Henry Connor PII: DOI: Reference:
S2352-4529(17)30165-2 doi: 10.1016/j.janh.2017.10.002 JANH 146
To appear in:
Journal of Anesthesia History
Please cite this article as: , Society Ladies - a prosopographic study. Part 2, Journal of Anesthesia History (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.janh.2017.10.002
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Society Ladies - a prosopographic study. Part 2 Dr Henry Connor
RI P
T
Honorary Research Fellow in the History of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, UK. [email protected] In a previous paper I presented brief biographies of nine of the fifteen ladies who were members of the Society of Anaesthetists which was founded in 1893 and which became a
SC
Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1908. In this paper I give brief biographical descriptions of the remaining six ladies and draw conclusions from the shared characteristics
MA NU
of the fourteen British women.
All fourteen British doctors were associated with the London School of Medicine for Women or its associated hospitals.
Three of them had begun or had completed training as nurses or as a midwife before embarking on medical training. As a group their medical qualifications were exceptional.
ED
Four took first class honours at a time when such honours were usually restricted to the top decile and, of these four, two won gold medals. Five were awarded the London MD, one the
PT
Durham MD and a further four the Brussels MD. Those with first class honours and doctorates from British universities all found full time
CE
employment in what would appear to have been their chosen specialties. Five went into general practice, usually together with one or more part-time posts, but others appear to have had more difficulty and were obliged to settle for multiple part-time posts. Typical part-time
AC
appointments included maternity and child health clinics, school and college doctor posts and examining for the Central Midwives Board. There is much evidence of a strong social conscience in this group. For example, three spent a substantial part of their careers in hospitals in India and three gave their time and skill to the Medical Mission Hospital in the Canning Town Women’s Settlement. Most were active in the Medical Women’s Federation that challenged discrimination against women doctors. Several were active in the women’s suffrage movement and seven of them were involved in the medical conduct of World War I, sometimes in difficult and dangerous circumstances. By the time that they retired two had been awarded the DBE, three the CBE and one the OBE (Dame, Commander and Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire respectively). Another had been awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d’honneur.
S2352-4529(17)30165-2 doi: 10.1016/j.janh.2017.10.002 JANH 146
To appear in:
Journal of Anesthesia History
Please cite this article as: , Society Ladies - a prosopographic study. Part 2, Journal of Anesthesia History (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.janh.2017.10.002
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Society Ladies - a prosopographic study. Part 2 Dr Henry Connor
RI P
T
Honorary Research Fellow in the History of Medicine in the University of Birmingham, UK. [email protected] In a previous paper I presented brief biographies of nine of the fifteen ladies who were members of the Society of Anaesthetists which was founded in 1893 and which became a
SC
Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1908. In this paper I give brief biographical descriptions of the remaining six ladies and draw conclusions from the shared characteristics
MA NU
of the fourteen British women.
All fourteen British doctors were associated with the London School of Medicine for Women or its associated hospitals.
Three of them had begun or had completed training as nurses or as a midwife before embarking on medical training. As a group their medical qualifications were exceptional.
ED
Four took first class honours at a time when such honours were usually restricted to the top decile and, of these four, two won gold medals. Five were awarded the London MD, one the
PT
Durham MD and a further four the Brussels MD. Those with first class honours and doctorates from British universities all found full time
CE
employment in what would appear to have been their chosen specialties. Five went into general practice, usually together with one or more part-time posts, but others appear to have had more difficulty and were obliged to settle for multiple part-time posts. Typical part-time
AC
appointments included maternity and child health clinics, school and college doctor posts and examining for the Central Midwives Board. There is much evidence of a strong social conscience in this group. For example, three spent a substantial part of their careers in hospitals in India and three gave their time and skill to the Medical Mission Hospital in the Canning Town Women’s Settlement. Most were active in the Medical Women’s Federation that challenged discrimination against women doctors. Several were active in the women’s suffrage movement and seven of them were involved in the medical conduct of World War I, sometimes in difficult and dangerous circumstances. By the time that they retired two had been awarded the DBE, three the CBE and one the OBE (Dame, Commander and Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire respectively). Another had been awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d’honneur.