Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

She married James George Skelton Anderson, a successful businessman, in 1871 and gave birth to three children. Theirs was a happy marriage and her husband was supportive of her career. Her daughter Louisa also became a successful doctor and feminist in her own right.

Elizabeth Garrett lived a long life and died on 17 December, 1917, at the age of 81.

The New Hospital for Women was renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in her honor in 1918.

Elizabeth Garrett was born on 9 June 1836 in Whitechapel, London, to Newson Garrett and his wife Louisa. She was the second of eleven children in her family.

Her father, initially a pawnbroker, went on to become a successful businessman and provided the children with a comfortable upbringing. Her parents were very open-minded and encouraged all their children—including daughters—to pursue their ambitions.

Elizabeth received her early education from her mother and a governess. She was sent to the Boarding School for Ladies in Blackheath, London, when she was 13. She did not like the school much though her schooling instilled in her a love for reading.

She continued to read widely and learn new things even after leaving the school. She was also a wide traveler and on one of her travels she met Emily Davies, the early feminist and future co-founder of Girton College, Cambridge, and became friends with her. Davies encouraged Elizabeth’s passion to become a career-woman.

On another one of her tours, she met Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman physician in America, who had come to England to deliver a series of lectures on "Medicine as a Profession for Ladies." After an interaction with the lady doctor, Garrett became inspired to become a doctor herself.

In spite of being a professionally qualified doctor, Elizabeth Garrett was having problems finding employment because of her gender. Undaunted, she opened her own practice in late 1865.

Initially patients were reluctant to consult a female physician, but eventually they started coming in greater numbers. When an outbreak of cholera in Britain threatened the citizens, many rushed to her clinic in desperation keeping aside their prejudices.

With the support of her father, she established the St Mary's Dispensary for Women and Children in 1866. She tended to over 3,000 new patients in the first year itself.

She learned French so that she could apply for a medical degree from the University of Sorbonne, Paris, which was more open towards admitting female medical students. She obtained the degree in 1870 though not before she overcame certain challenges.

In 1870, she was also elected to the first London School Board, an office newly opened to women. The St Mary's Dispensary for Women and Children was renamed as the New Hospital for Women and Children in 1872. Women from all over London came to the hospital to be treated for gynecological conditions.

Elizabeth Garrett was the first woman to qualify in medicine in Britain, and by doing so she set a precedent for other aspiring female physicians to follow. She herself had endured numerous struggles in her quest to become a physician, and thus she became a champion for women’s right to receive medical education and helped to found the London School of Medicine for Women.