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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She is known for being the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon[1] and as a co-founder and dean of the London School of Medicine for Women, which was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors.[2] She was the first female dean of a British medical school, the first woman in Britain to be elected to a school board and, as mayor of Aldeburgh, the first female mayor in Britain.

Key Information

Early life

[edit]
Her parents, Newson and Louisa Garrett in their old age; from What I Remember by Millicent Garrett Fawcett

Elizabeth was born in Whitechapel, London, and was the second of eleven children of Newson Garrett (1812–1893), from Leiston, Suffolk, and his wife, Louisa (born Dunnell; c. 1813–1903), from London.[3][4]

Her paternal ancestors had been ironworkers in East Suffolk since the early seventeenth century.[5] Newson was the youngest of three sons and not academically inclined, although he possessed the family's entrepreneurial spirit. When he finished school, Newson found few opportunities in Leiston, so he moved to London to make his fortune. There, he fell in love with his brother's sister-in-law, Louisa Dunnell, the daughter of an innkeeper of Suffolk origin. After their wedding, the couple went to live in a pawnbroker's shop at 1 Commercial Road, Whitechapel. The Garretts had their first three children in quick succession: Louisa, Elizabeth, and a son, Dunnell, who died at the age of six months.[6] When Garrett was three years old, the family moved to 142 Long Acre, where they lived for two years, while one more child was born and her father advanced in his career, becoming not only the manager of a larger pawnbroker's shop, but also a silversmith.[7] Garrett's grandfather, owner of the family engineering works, Richard Garrett & Sons, had died in 1837, leaving the business to his eldest son, Garrett's uncle. Despite his lack of capital, Newson was determined to be successful and in 1841, at the age of 29, he moved his family to Suffolk, where he bought a barley and coal merchants business in Snape, constructing Snape Maltings from 1846.[8]

The Garretts lived in a square Georgian house opposite the church in Aldeburgh until 1852. Newson's malting business expanded and more children were born, Edmund (1840), Alice (1842), Agnes (1845),[9] Millicent (1847), who was to become a leader in the constitutional campaign for women's suffrage, Sam (1850), Josephine (1853) and George (1854). By 1850, Newson was a prosperous businessman and was able to build Alde House, a mansion on a hill behind Aldeburgh. A "by-product of the industrial revolution",[10] Garrett grew up in an atmosphere of "triumphant economic pioneering" and the Garrett children were to grow up to become achievers in the professional classes of late-Victorian England. Elizabeth was encouraged to take an interest in local politics and, contrary to practices at the time, was allowed the freedom to explore the town with its nearby salt-marshes, beach and the small port of Slaughden with its boatbuilders' yards and sailmakers' lofts.[11]

Early education

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There was no school in Aldeburgh, so Garrett learned reading, writing, and arithmetic from her mother. When she was 10 years old, a governess, Miss Edgeworth, a poor gentlewoman, was employed to educate Garrett and her sister. Mornings were spent in the schoolroom; there were regimented afternoon walks; educating the young ladies continued at mealtimes when Edgeworth ate with the family; at night, the governess slept in a curtained off area in the girls' bedroom. Garrett reportedly despised her governess and sought to outwit the teacher in the classroom.[12] When Garrett was 13 and her sister 15, they were sent to a private school, the Boarding School for Ladies in Blackheath, London, which was run by the step aunts of the poet Robert Browning.[13] There, English literature, French, Italian and German as well as deportment, were taught.[14]

A portrait of Garrett in the 1860s

Later in life, Garrett recalled the stupidity of her teachers there, though her schooling there did help establish a love of reading.[15] Her main complaint about the school was the lack of science and mathematics instruction.[4] Her reading there included works of Tennyson, Wordsworth, Milton, Coleridge, Trollope, Thackeray and George Eliot. Elizabeth and Louie were known as "the bathing Garretts", as their father had insisted they be allowed a hot bath once a week.[15] However, they made what were to be lifelong friends there. When they finished in 1851, they were sent on a short tour abroad, ending with a memorable visit to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London.[4]

After this formal education, Garrett spent the next nine years tending to domestic duties, but she continued to study Latin and arithmetic in the mornings and also read widely. Her sister Millicent recalled Garrett's weekly lectures, "Talks on Things in General", when her younger siblings would gather while she discussed politics and current affairs from Garibaldi to Macaulay's History of England.[16] In 1854, when she was eighteen, Garrett and her sister went on a long visit to their school friends, Jane and Anne Crow, in Gateshead where she met Emily Davies, the early feminist and future co-founder of Girton College, Cambridge. Davies was to be a lifelong friend and confidante, always ready to give sound advice during the important decisions of Garrett's career. It may have been in the English Woman's Journal, first issued in 1858, that Garrett first read of Elizabeth Blackwell, who had become the first female doctor in the United States in 1849.[4] When Blackwell visited London in 1859, Garrett travelled to the capital. By then, her sister Louie was married and living in London. Garrett joined the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, which organised Blackwell's lectures on "Medicine as a Profession for Ladies" and set up a private meeting between Garrett and the doctor.[17] It is said that during a visit to Alde House around 1860, one evening while sitting by the fireside, Garrett and Davies selected careers for advancing the frontiers of women's rights; Garrett was to open the medical profession to women, Davies the doors to a university education for women, while 13-year-old Millicent was allocated politics and votes for women.[18] At first Newson was opposed to the radical idea of his daughter becoming a physician but came round and agreed to do all in his power, both financially and otherwise, to support Garrett.[19]

Medical education

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After an initial unsuccessful visit to leading doctors in Harley Street, Garrett decided to first spend six months as a surgery nurse at Middlesex Hospital, London in August 1860.[4][20] On proving to be a good nurse, she was allowed to attend an outpatients' clinic, then her first operation. She unsuccessfully attempted to enroll in the hospital's Medical School but was allowed to attend private tuition in Latin, Greek and pharmacology with the hospital's apothecary, while continuing her work as a nurse. She also employed a tutor to study anatomy and physiology three evenings a week. Eventually she was allowed into the dissecting room and the chemistry lectures. Gradually, Garrett became an unwelcome presence among the male students, who in 1861 presented a memorial to the school against her admittance as a fellow student, despite the support she enjoyed from the administration.[4][21] She was obliged to leave the Middlesex Hospital but she did so with an honours certificate in chemistry and materia medica. Garrett then applied to several medical schools, including Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews and the Royal College of Surgeons, all of which refused her admittance.[4][22]

A companion to Garrett in this effort was the lesser known Sophia Jex-Blake. While both are considered "outstanding" medical figures of the late 19th century, Garrett was able to obtain her credentials by way of a "side door" through a loophole in admissions at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.[23] Having privately obtained a certificate in anatomy and physiology, she was admitted in 1862 by the Society of Apothecaries who, as a condition of their charter, could not legally exclude her on account of her sex.[23] She was the only woman in the Apothecaries Hall who sat the exam that year. Among the 51 male candidates was William Heath Strange, who went on to found the Hampstead General Hospital, which was on the site now occupied by the Royal Free Hospital.[24] She continued her battle to qualify by studying privately with various professors, including some at the University of St Andrews, the Edinburgh Royal Maternity and the London Hospital Medical School.[25]

In 1865, Garrett finally took her exam and obtained a licence (LSA) from the Society of Apothecaries to practise medicine, the first woman qualified in Britain to do so openly (previously there was Dr James Barry who was born and raised female but presented as male from the age of 20). On the day, three out of seven candidates passed the exam, Garrett with the highest marks.[26] The Society of Apothecaries immediately amended its regulations to prevent other women obtaining a licence[27] meaning that Jex-Blake could not follow this same path; the new rule disallowed privately educated women to be eligible for examination.[23] It was not until 1876 that the new Medical Act (39 and 40 Vict, Ch. 41) passed, which allowed British medical authorities to license all qualified applicants whatever their gender.[28][29][30]

Career

[edit]
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson before the Faculty of Medicine, Paris

Though she was now a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries, as a woman, Garrett could not hold a medical post in any hospital. So in late 1865, Garrett opened her own practice at 20 Upper Berkeley Street, London.[31] At first patients were scarce, but the practice gradually grew. After six months in practice, she wished to open an outpatients dispensary, to enable poor women to obtain medical help from a qualified practitioner of their own gender. In 1865, there was an outbreak of cholera in Britain, affecting both rich and poor, and in their panic, some people forgot any prejudices they had in relation to a female physician. The first death due to cholera occurred in 1866, but by then Garrett had already opened St Mary's Dispensary for Women and Children, at 69 Seymour Place.[32] In the first year, she tended to 3,000 new patients, who made 9,300 outpatient visits to the dispensary.[33] On hearing that the Dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Sorbonne, Paris was in favour of admitting women as medical students, Garrett studied French so that she could apply for a medical degree, which she obtained in 1870 after some difficulty.[4][34]

Caricature of Garrett Anderson published in 1872

The same year she was elected to the first London School Board, an office newly opened to women; Garrett's was the highest vote among all the candidates. Also in that year, she was made a visiting physician of the East London Hospital for Children (later the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children), becoming the first woman in Britain to be appointed to a medical post,[35] but she found the duties of these two positions to be incompatible with her principal work in her private practice and the dispensary, as well as her role as a new mother, so she resigned from these posts by 1873.[36] In 1872, the dispensary became the New Hospital for Women and Children,[37] treating women from all over London for gynaecological conditions; the hospital moved to new premises in Marylebone Street in 1874. Around this time, Garrett also entered into discussion with male medical views regarding women. In 1874, Henry Maudsley's article on Sex and Mind in Education appeared, which argued that education for women caused over-exertion and thus reduced their reproductive capacity, sometimes causing "nervous and even mental disorders".[38] Garrett's counter-argument was that the real danger for women was not education but boredom and that fresh air and exercise were preferable to sitting by the fire with a novel.[39] In the same year, she co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women with Sophia Jex-Blake and became a lecturer in what was then the only teaching hospital in Britain to offer courses for women.[40] She continued to work there for the rest of her career and was dean of the school from 1883 to 1902. This school was later called the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine,[41] and became part of the medical school of University College London.

BMA membership

[edit]
Garrett Anderson circa 1889
Garrett Anderson as mayor of Aldeburgh, November 1908

In 1873, Garrett gained membership of the British Medical Association (BMA). In 1878, a motion was proposed to exclude women following the election of Garrett Anderson and Frances Hoggan. The motion was opposed by Dr Norman Kerr who maintained the equal rights of members.[42] This was "one of several instances where Garrett, uniquely, was able to enter a hitherto all male medical institution which subsequently moved formally to exclude any women who might seek to follow her."[41] In 1892, women were again admitted to the British Medical Association following a long campaign by Anderson and others. She, along with Dr Sarah Gray and Dr Eliza Walker Dunbar attended the BMA meeting at Nottingham that year, lobbying successfully for the readmission of women to the association.[43] In 1897, Garrett Anderson was elected president of the East Anglian branch of the BMA.[44]

The Hospital for Women, now occupied by Unison, in 2018

Garrett Anderson worked steadily at the development of the New Hospital for Women and Children and in 1874 co-founded and served as dean[4] of the London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW). Both institutions were handsomely and suitably housed and equipped. The New Hospital for Women commissioned a building in the Euston Road; the architect was J. M. Brydon,[45] who took into his employment Anderson's sister Agnes Garrett and her cousin Rhoda Garrett, who contributed to its design.[46] For many years, the hospital was staffed entirely by medical women. The schools (in Hunter Street, WC1) had over 200 students, most of them preparing for the medical degree of London University, which was opened to women in 1877.[37]

Women’s suffrage movement

[edit]
Garrett Anderson with Emmeline Pankhurst on Black Friday, 18 November 1910
Garrett Anderson

Garrett Anderson was also active in the women's suffrage movement. In 1866, Garrett Anderson and Davies presented petitions with more than 1,500 signatures asking that female heads of household be given the right to vote.[47] That year, Garrett Anderson joined the first British Women's Suffrage Committee.[4] She was not as active as her sister, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, though Garrett Anderson became a member of the Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage in 1889. After her husband's death in 1907, she became more active. As mayor of Aldeburgh, she gave speeches for suffrage, before the increasing militant activity in the movement led to her withdrawal in 1911.[48] Her daughter Louisa, also a physician, was more active and more militant, spending time in prison in 1912 for her suffrage activities.[49]

Personal life

[edit]

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson once remarked that "a doctor leads two lives, the professional and the private, and the boundaries between the two are never traversed".[50] In 1871, she married[51] James George Skelton Anderson (died 1907) of the Orient Steam Navigation Company, but she did not give up her medical practice. She had three children, Louisa (1873–1943), Margaret (1874–1875), who died of meningitis, and Alan (1877–1952). Louisa also became a pioneering doctor of medicine and feminist activist.

They retired to Aldeburgh in 1902,[52] moving to Alde House in 1903, after the death of Elizabeth's mother. Skelton died of a stroke in 1907.[4] She enjoyed a happy marriage and in later life, devoted time to Alde House, gardening, and travelling with younger members of the extended family.[53]

On 9 November 1908, she was elected mayor of Aldeburgh, the first female mayor in England.[54] Her father had been mayor in 1889.

She died in 1917 and is buried in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aldeburgh.[41]

Legacy

[edit]
The Garrett Anderson Centre, Ipswich Hospital

The New Hospital for Women was renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in 1918 and amalgamated with the Obstetric Hospital in 2001 to form the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital[55] before relocating to become the University College Hospital Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing at UCH.

The former Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital buildings are incorporated into the new National Headquarters for the public service trade union UNISON. The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Gallery,[56] a permanent installation set within the restored hospital building, uses a variety of media to set the story of Garrett Anderson, her hospital, and women's struggle to achieve equality in the field of medicine within the wider framework of 19th and 20th century social history.

The critical care centre at Ipswich Hospital was named the Garrett Anderson Centre in her honour and in recognition of her connection to the county of Suffolk.

The new medical school at the University of Worcester, due to accept its first students in 2023, is to be called the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Building.[57]

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, a secondary school for girls in Islington, London, is named after her.

The archives of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson are held at the Women's Library at the London School of Economics.[58] The archives of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital (formerly the New Hospital for Women) are held at the London Metropolitan Archives.[59]

On 9 June 2016, Google Doodle commemorated her 180th birthday.[60]

Poet Jessy Randall included a tribute to Garrett Anderson in her 2025 collection of poems about women scientists, The Path of Most Resistance.[61]

The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme of the NHS Leadership Academy is a master's degree in leadership and management.[62]

References

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Further reading

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[edit]
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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and political activist recognized as the first woman to qualify as a medical practitioner in Britain. Born in to a prosperous family, she pursued medical training amid institutional barriers that excluded women from formal education, securing a licentiate from the Society of Apothecaries in 1865 through private study, informal attendance at hospital lectures, and apprenticeship. She later obtained a degree from the in 1870, enabling her to practice fully as the first woman physician in . Anderson established St Mary's Dispensary in 1866 and the New Hospital for Women in 1872, both staffed exclusively by female doctors to provide care and training opportunities for . As co-founder and dean of the London School of Medicine for Women from 1883, she advanced professional education for female physicians until its integration into the . An early advocate for , she delivered her first public speech on the issue in 1868 and initially aligned with moderate reformers before briefly joining the militant , from which she withdrew in 1911 over tactical disagreements. In 1908, she became the first woman elected mayor of , , and served on the London School Board, promoting educational reforms. Her daughter, , followed her into medicine and activism.

Early Life and Background

Family Origins and Influences

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was born on 9 June 1836 in , , as the second of twelve children born to Newson Garrett (1812–1893) and Louisa Dunnell (1813–1903). The Garrett family traced its origins to , where Newson, the third son of agricultural engineer Richard Garrett (1779–1837), initially worked as a London-based broker in commodities like grain. By the early 1840s, Newson's entrepreneurial ventures in malting, barley trading, coal merchandising, and shipping had prospered, prompting the family's relocation to , , in 1841 when Elizabeth was five years old. Newson's business acumen transformed the family's circumstances from modest urban beginnings to rural affluence, with operations centered at Snape Maltings, enabling investments in property and education for his children. This financial security was pivotal, as it deviated from Victorian norms restricting women's opportunities, allowing the Garrett daughters access to private tuition and intellectual pursuits uncommon for the era. The family's influences stemmed primarily from Newson's liberal worldview, shaped by his self-made success and rejection of traditional gender constraints; he actively financed Elizabeth's medical training despite societal opposition and her mother's initial distress over the choice. Louisa managed the extensive household amid frequent pregnancies—eleven children survived infancy—but deferred to Newson's progressive stance on , fostering an environment where Elizabeth developed ambitions beyond domesticity. This parental dynamic, emphasizing and opportunity, directly informed Elizabeth's determination to challenge professional barriers for women.

Childhood and Initial Interests

Elizabeth Garrett was born on 9 June 1836 in , , the second of twelve children to Newson Garrett, who began as a before achieving success as a corn and coal merchant, and his wife Louisa. The family relocated to in 1838, settling in a region tied to her father's origins and business interests, which afforded them a stable middle-class existence amid the industrializing economy of the time. Her initial education occurred at home under governesses, emphasizing foundational academic skills in an era when formal schooling for girls was limited. At age thirteen in 1849, she attended a progressive in , directed by the aunts of poet , where exposure to reformist ideas shaped her worldview. The Garrett family's atypical support for daughters' intellectual pursuits—contrasting with Victorian norms prioritizing domestic roles—enabled such opportunities, reflecting Newson Garrett's self-made ethos and commitment to family advancement. From childhood, Garrett exhibited a strong interest in and contemporary events, engaging with discussions on and social issues within her intellectually curious household. This early inclination toward public affairs, rather than conventional feminine pursuits, laid groundwork for her later activism, though specific medical aspirations emerged only in her late teens following encounters with pioneering figures like .

Educational and Professional Pursuit

Early Formal Education

Elizabeth Garrett received her earliest instruction at home in , , where no local school existed, beginning with basic taught by her mother, Louisa Garrett. Around age 10, circa 1846, a was hired to provide more structured tutoring for Garrett and her sisters, covering subjects typical of mid-19th-century such as languages, history, and , though Garrett later expressed dissatisfaction with the limited depth and intellectual rigor of this phase. In 1849, at age 13, Garrett and her older sister Louisa were enrolled at the Boarding School for Ladies in Blackheath, London, a private institution run by Louisa Browning, aunt of poet Robert Browning, which catered to daughters of the emerging middle class. She attended for two years, until about 1851, during which the curriculum prioritized social graces, music, drawing, and light literature over substantive sciences or mathematics—a focus that Garrett found superficial and constraining, prompting her to supplement her learning independently through family library access and discussions. This marked the conclusion of her formal pre-medical schooling, after which societal expectations directed her toward domestic pursuits rather than further academic advancement.

Barriers to Medical Training and Strategies Employed

In the 1860s, British medical education was effectively closed to women, as universities and professional bodies such as the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons explicitly refused female applicants, maintaining medicine as a profession reserved for men through institutional policies and cultural norms that emphasized gender-segregated roles. Elizabeth Garrett encountered these barriers directly in 1861 when she applied for admission to every major in and to the royal colleges, receiving unanimous rejections that underscored the absence of legal or regulatory provisions for women's entry. This exclusion stemmed from the Apothecaries Act of 1815 and related charters, which governed licensing but did not anticipate or permit female candidates, effectively requiring women to seek alternative paths outside established systems. To circumvent these obstacles, Garrett pursued informal and self-directed study beginning in 1860, enrolling as a nurse at Middlesex Hospital where she gained permission from the dean to attend lectures and access the dissecting room, though her presence provoked opposition from male students who petitioned for her removal after about a year. She supplemented this with private tuition from accredited physicians in subjects like and , relying on personal initiative and supportive mentors to build the knowledge needed for qualification without formal enrollment. A pivotal strategy involved exploiting an unintended loophole in the Apothecaries Act, which regulated the Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA) examination but lacked explicit gender restrictions; Garrett prepared independently and passed the required exams in , , chemistry, , therapeutics, and practice of medicine on 28 September 1865, securing the LSA license—the first granted to a woman in Britain and entitling her to practice as a physician and . The Society of Apothecaries promptly amended its bylaws in December 1865 to bar future female examinees, closing the pathway she had utilized. Seeking a full Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree unrecognized in Britain under her LSA, Garrett taught herself French and enrolled at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) in 1869, completing the curriculum and thesis requirements to earn the MD on 11 June 1870—the institution's first awarded to a British woman and providing international validation of her expertise amid domestic resistance. This foreign qualification, combined with her earlier license, enabled her to establish a practice focused on women's health, demonstrating how targeted legal maneuvering and transnational education could bypass entrenched national barriers.

Qualification as Physician and Surgeon

Unable to gain admission to British medical schools due to gender restrictions, Elizabeth Garrett independently studied , , and other subjects while gaining practical experience through informal arrangements at hospitals such as Middlesex Hospital. She passed the rigorous examinations of the Society of Apothecaries, earning the Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA) on 28 September 1865, which qualified her to practice as a physician, , and —the first woman in Britain to obtain such a license openly. This qualification exploited a regulatory , as the Society's rules did not explicitly prohibit women from sitting the exams at that time. In response to her success, the Society of Apothecaries promptly amended its regulations in late 1865 to bar future female candidates, prompting Garrett to seek further credentials abroad. She self-taught French and enrolled at the (Sorbonne), completing the required coursework and passing viva voce examinations to obtain the (MD) degree in June 1870. Although the British Medical Council did not initially recognize foreign degrees for women on the Medical Register, her LSA sufficed for legal practice in , marking her as a pioneering figure in overcoming institutional barriers to female medical qualification.

Medical Career and Contributions

Establishment of Dispensary and Hospital

In 1866, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson founded St Mary's Dispensary for Women and Children at 69 Seymour Place in , , with financial backing from her father, Newson Garrett, a successful . The institution provided outpatient medical treatment exclusively to female patients by women practitioners, addressing the preferences of many poor women who avoided male doctors due to cultural sensitivities and enabling female physicians to gain clinical experience amid widespread professional exclusion. Anderson served as the dispensary's principal physician, conducting consultations and dispensing medicines from the premises, which she had initially used for her private practice. The functioned as the foundational nucleus for a dedicated women's , admitting its first inpatients in 1871. In 1872, a 10-bed inpatient ward was added, prompting the renaming to the New Hospital for Women; this expansion was opened by Lord Shaftesbury and maintained an all-female staff of doctors and nurses, making it Britain's first operated entirely by women for women's healthcare needs. The facility relocated to larger premises at 222-224 in 1874 to accommodate growing demand, with further moves to a purpose-built site on in 1890, where it continued under Anderson's oversight for two decades.

Founding of London School of Medicine for Women

In response to persistent exclusion of women from established medical schools, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874 alongside and , aiming to offer systematic clinical and theoretical training that enabled female students to qualify for medical registration. The initiative built on Anderson's prior establishment of the New Hospital for Women in 1872, which served as an initial site for practical instruction, addressing the lack of hospital access for women physicians following failures like the campaign. The school formally opened on 12 October 1874 at 30 Henry Street in , , admitting 14 students for lectures delivered by female practitioners including Anderson and Blackwell, supplemented by male allies such as who provided anatomy instruction. Clinical training occurred through arrangements with hospitals like the New Hospital for Women and later affiliations with institutions such as the Royal Free Hospital, circumventing direct university admission barriers until broader reforms. This structure emphasized empirical preparation for practice, with early curricula covering , , and to meet Licensing Society requirements. Anderson contributed as a lecturer in subjects like and from the outset, leveraging her 1865 qualification via the Society of Apothecaries to model rigorous standards amid skepticism from medical establishments. The founding reflected causal barriers—societal norms and institutional policies limiting women's access—rather than inherent incapacity, as evidenced by the school's graduates qualifying en masse by the 1880s, though funding relied on private donations and subscriptions due to limited public support. By 1883, Anderson assumed the deanship, overseeing expansion that trained over 200 women by 1900.

Involvement in Professional Bodies

In 1865, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson obtained the Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA), becoming the first woman to qualify through this licensing body after exploiting a regulatory loophole that allowed individual examinations without formal university affiliation; the Society promptly amended its rules to prevent further female admissions following her success. Anderson achieved a landmark in professional integration in 1873 by becoming the first woman elected to membership in the (), a position she held as the sole female member for the next 19 years amid widespread resistance from the male-dominated organization. Her admission followed a contentious vote but highlighted ongoing exclusionary practices, as she was denied membership in the Obstetrical Society (predecessor to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists) in 1874 despite her qualifications. Throughout the 1880s and early 1890s, Anderson actively campaigned within the BMA for broader admission of women physicians, arguing against bylaws that effectively barred them; her efforts culminated in a 1892 annual meeting vote that amended the association's rules, enabling the entry of additional female members and marking a partial victory against institutional gatekeeping. She also secured affiliations with select French medical societies during her studies in , where she earned her MD in 1870, providing rare avenues for professional recognition unavailable in Britain. These involvements underscored her role in challenging the exclusionary structures of Victorian medical professionalism, though systemic biases limited her to peripheral participation in many bodies.

Engagement with Women's Suffrage

Advocacy and Organizational Roles

Anderson began her advocacy for women's suffrage in the mid-1860s, joining the Kensington Society upon its formation in 1865 as a founding member; this discussion group, comprising women interested in employment, education, and political rights, frequently addressed enfranchisement. In 1866, she collaborated with Emily Davies to compile and present the first organized petition demanding voting rights for women, securing 1,499 signatures before delivering it to Member of Parliament John Stuart Mill for tabling in the House of Commons on 7 June. This effort stemmed from the society's resolutions and marked an early coordinated push for parliamentary reform to include women householders. Her organizational involvement extended to nascent suffrage committees, including participation in the Enfranchisement of Women Committee formed around the petition's presentation, where she advocated for women's inclusion in franchise extension bills like the 1867 Reform Act. Later, Anderson held the position of honorary secretary for the Central and Eastern Society for and served on the parliamentary committee of the National Union of Societies (NUWSS), focusing on legislative through petitions and deputations. She chaired suffrage meetings and contributed to the Central Committee's strategies, emphasizing peaceful, constitutional methods over confrontational tactics. In 1908, Anderson actively participated in the NUWSS-led Suffrage Saturday procession on 13 June, joining an estimated 10,000 women in a demonstration through to press for enfranchisement, underscoring her sustained commitment to organized, non-militant advocacy. Her roles highlighted a pragmatic approach, prioritizing evidence-based appeals to amid broader debates on women's legal capacities.

Positions on Tactics and Internal Debates

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson initially aligned with the militant tactics of the (WSPU) in the early 1900s, joining the organization alongside her daughter Louisa and participating in events such as the Black Friday demonstration on November 18, 1910, where suffragettes confronted police at . However, she resigned from the WSPU in 1911 as its methods escalated to include and other violent acts, which she viewed as counterproductive to gaining public and political support for women's enfranchisement. Anderson advocated for constitutional, non-violent approaches to suffrage, emphasizing persuasion through legal petitions, public meetings, and parliamentary lobbying, in line with the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) led by her sister Millicent Fawcett. She believed that militant violence alienated potential allies and reinforced anti-suffrage arguments portraying women as unfit for the vote due to emotional instability or lawlessness, thereby undermining the movement's moral authority. Following the WSPU's intensified tactics after Black Friday, including hunger strikes and property destruction, Anderson publicly withdrew her support and retreated from active suffrage involvement by 1913, prioritizing the long-term efficacy of peaceful reform over short-term disruption. This stance reflected broader internal debates within the suffrage movement, where constitutionalists like Anderson argued that militancy hardened opposition—evidenced by government crackdowns and public backlash—while militants contended it forced attention to the cause. Anderson's position, grounded in her experience as a professional woman seeking legitimacy, prioritized building institutional credibility over confrontational spectacle, though it drew criticism from radicals for timidity in the face of entrenched male resistance.

Personal Life and Relationships

Marriage and Family Dynamics

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson married James George Skelton Anderson on April 9, 1871; he was a shipping magnate and co-owner of the , as well as a financial supporter of medical institutions including the New Hospital for Women. The union allowed her to maintain her professional independence, as Anderson continued her medical practice without interruption following the marriage, reflecting a that accommodated her pioneering career amid Victorian-era expectations of domesticity. The couple had three children: daughter Louisa Garrett Anderson, born March 28, 1873, who pursued medicine like her mother, qualifying as a physician and later serving as chief surgeon at the Endell Street Military Hospital during ; daughter Margaret Skelton Garrett Anderson, born in 1874 and deceased in infancy the following year; and son Alan Garrett Anderson, born February 1879, who entered business and was eventually knighted for his contributions to shipping and public service. Family residences shifted over time, from —where the children were born—to , , following the couple's retirement there in 1902, prioritizing a quieter coastal environment conducive to Anderson's later health and local civic involvement. Within the family, Anderson exemplified the integration of professional ambition with motherhood, delegating routine childcare to enable her hospital and educational commitments while drawing on her husband's logistical and ; this arrangement proved viable, as evidenced by Louisa's emulation of her mother's path and the family's sustained cohesion until James's death in 1907. No records indicate significant marital discord, and the dynamic supported Anderson's multifaceted roles, including activism, without apparent compromise to familial bonds.

Health Challenges and Retirement

In 1902, at the age of 66, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson retired from her positions as senior physician at the New Hospital for Women and dean of the London School of Medicine for Women, relocating with her husband to , . This transition followed decades of intensive professional demands, including administrative leadership and clinical practice, though no specific health impairments are documented as precipitating the decision. Despite retirement from medicine, Anderson remained engaged in public life, serving as the first female of from 1908 to 1909 and continuing advocacy for . She resided in until her death on 17 December 1917 at age 81, attributed to natural causes with no recorded chronic illnesses or acute conditions in her final years. Her longevity reflects resilience amid a career marked by institutional barriers rather than personal frailty.

Death and Posthumous Recognition

Final Years and Passing

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson retired as dean of the London School of Medicine for Women in 1902, subsequently becoming president of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, and relocated to , , with her husband James Skelton Anderson. After her husband's death in 1907, she was elected mayor of the following year, serving from November 1908 to November 1909 and becoming the first woman mayor in Britain. During her tenure as mayor, Anderson advocated for and local improvements, drawing on her medical and reformist background to influence community governance. She resided at Alde House in , maintaining an interest in constitutional suffrage efforts amid shifting political landscapes, including support for Britain's involvement. Anderson died on 17 1917 at her home, aged 81, and was buried in the local churchyard.

Enduring Institutional Legacy

The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW), co-founded by Elizabeth Garrett Anderson in 1874, marked the establishment of the first British medical school dedicated to training female physicians with qualifications recognized in the . Anderson served as its first dean, overseeing the education of women excluded from traditional institutions, which graduated hundreds of doctors who advanced women's integration into the medical profession. In 1917, the LSMW merged with the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, gaining affiliation with the in 1916 and facilitating broader access to degrees for women; this lineage culminated in its 1998 incorporation into Medical School, embedding women's medical education within a major research university. Parallel to her educational efforts, Anderson founded the New Hospital for Women in in 1872, initially as a in 1866, creating the first British hospital staffed entirely by women to address barriers faced by female patients seeking care from female practitioners. Renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital in 1918 following her death, it provided specialized services for over a century, merging with the Obstetric Hospital in 1969 and integrating into University College London Hospitals in 1995. Today, the EGA Wing at University College London Hospitals houses the UCL EGA Institute for , continuing focused research and clinical work in , gynecology, and related fields, thus perpetuating Anderson's vision of women-led healthcare delivery. These institutions not only trained and employed early medical professionals but also demonstrated the viability of women in healthcare roles, influencing policy changes that dismantled formal barriers to women's medical licensure and practice in Britain by the early .

Critical Assessments of Achievements and Limitations

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson's qualification as the first woman licensed to practice in Britain in 1865, achieved through a loophole in the Apothecaries Act, demonstrated the feasibility of women's medical competence amid widespread institutional resistance, inspiring subsequent efforts to open . Her establishment of the New Hospital for Women in 1872 provided clinical training opportunities for female practitioners, enabling over 200 women to qualify as doctors by the early through its affiliated London School of Medicine for Women, founded in 1874. This institution addressed a practical gap in care for female patients reluctant to consult physicians, treating thousands annually by the and contributing to gradual normalization of women in healthcare roles. In suffrage advocacy, Anderson's leadership in collecting the 1866 petition with 1,497 signatures from medical professionals pressured to consider women's enfranchisement, while her election to the London School Board in 1870 and as Aldeburgh's in 1908 exemplified practical political engagement without resorting to disruption. These milestones underscored her strategy of respectability and persistence, which aligned with constitutional methods and avoided alienating moderate supporters. Critically, Anderson's medical thesis on migraine in 1870 offered detailed clinical observations but advanced no novel pathophysiological insights, limiting its scholarly influence. The hospital's early surgical endeavors faced scrutiny for high complication rates, with contemporary accounts alleging a "too high a percentage of failures" and potential institutional efforts to obscure poor outcomes amid the era's general surgical risks and the inexperience of women operators. Her separatist model—women doctors treating only women—sustained a niche practice but delayed broader integration into mixed-sex hospitals, where discrimination persisted until post-World War I shifts. In suffrage, her opposition to militant tactics post-1910 "Black Friday" events, viewing them as counterproductive to gaining elite sympathy, distanced her from more aggressive campaigns; some evaluations attribute the 1918 vote acceleration partly to militancy's pressure, suggesting constitutional approaches like hers prolonged reform. Overall, while symbolically pioneering, her individualized persistence yielded incremental rather than transformative systemic change, as medical schools only incrementally admitted women after 1874 and full enfranchisement lagged.

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