Elsie Inglis
Elsie Inglis | |
---|---|
First World War doctor | |
Honours | Serbian Order of the White Eagle (First Class) |
Eliza Maud "Elsie" Inglis (16 August 1864 – 26 November 1917) was a Scottish medical doctor, surgeon, teacher,[1] suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals.[2] She was the first woman to hold the Serbian Order of the White Eagle.[3]
Early life and education
Inglis was born on 16 August 1864, in the
Inglis's father was religious and used his position in India to "encourage native economic development, spoke out against infanticide and promoted female education."[5] Inglis's maternal grandfather was Rev Henry Simson of Chapel of Garioch in Aberdeenshire.[6] She was a cousin to the gynaecologist Sir Henry Simson, as well as fellow female medical pioneer Grace Cadell.[7]
Inglis's father retired (when aged 56) from the East India Company to return to Edinburgh, via Tasmania, where some of her older siblings settled.[1] Inglis went on to a private education in Edinburgh (where she had led a successful demand by the schoolgirls to use private gardens in Charlotte Square) and finishing school in Paris. Inglis's decision to study medicine was delayed by nursing her mother, during her last illness (scarlet fever)[1] and her death in 1885, when she felt obliged to stay in Edinburgh with her father.[citation needed]
In 1887, the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was opened by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake and Inglis started her studies there. In reaction to Jex-Blake's methods, and after two fellow students Grace and Georgina Cadell were expelled, Inglis and her father founded the Edinburgh College of Medicine for Women, under the auspices of the Scottish Association for the Medical Education of Women, whose sponsors included Sir William Muir, a friend of her father from India, now Principal of the University of Edinburgh.[1] Inglis's sponsors also arranged clinical training for female students under Sir William MacEwen at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.[4]
In 1892, she obtained the
Inglis later acknowledged that 'whatever I am, whatever I have done – I owe it all to my father'.[1]
Career
Medical practice
Inglis returned to
Inglis often waived the fees owed to her and would pay for her patients to recuperate by the sea-side, with polio being a particular childhood illness she was concerned with.[1] Inglis was a consultant at Bruntsfield Hospital, a nearby hospital for women and children, and the Hospice merged with them in 1910.[11]
Inglis's surgical skills were recognised by colleagues as "she was quiet, calm, and collected, and never at a loss, skilful in her manipulations, and able to cope with any emergency."[8]
Inglis lived and was in a relationship for some time with Flora Murray, a fellow doctor and suffragette.[12]
Suffrage movement
Her dissatisfaction with the standard of medical care available to women led her to political activism through the suffrage movement. She was the secretary of the Edinburgh National Society for Women's Suffrage in the 1890s, supported by her father,[1] and while she was working toward her medical degree.[13]
Inglis worked closely with Millicent Fawcett, the leader of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (the NUWSS), speaking at events all over the country. By 1906, "Elsie Inglis was to the Scottish groups what Mrs. Fawcett was to the English; when they too formed themselves that year into a Federation, it was Elsie who became its secretary."[14] From the early years of the Scottish Federation of Women's Suffrage Societies, Inglis was honorary secretary from 1906 and continued in this role right up to 1914.[15]
Inglis spoke in support of suffrage in 1907 with
A century later, in The Lancet, Lucy Inglis (a relative) noted Inglis had said 'fate had placed her in the van of a great movement' and was a 'keen fighter'.[8] Inglis's personal style was described by fellow suffragist Sarah Mair as 'courteous, sweet-voiced' with 'the eyes of a seer', a 'radiant smile' when her lips were not 'firmly closed with a fixity of purpose such as would warn off unwarrantable opposition or objections...'[1]
First World War
Although she had already had turned 50 at the start of the conflict,
Inglis wanted a neutral name in order to attract "wide support from men and women".[19] but was able to use her connections to the suffrage movement to raise money for what became the Scottish Women's Hospitals (SWH). Inglis approached the Scottish Red Cross to help with funding, but the head of the Scottish Red Cross, Sir George Beatson denied Inglis' request stating that the Red Cross was in the hands of the War Office and he could have "nothing to say to a hospital staffed by women."[20] To start the project, "she opened a fund with £100 of her own money."[21] Milicent Fawcett, of NUWSS took up the cause and invited Inglis to speak about the SWH in London,[18] and by the next month, Inglis had her first £1,000.[22] The goal was £50,000.[23] Collection boxes had the NUWSS logo in small print, one is held in the National Museum of Scotland.[24]
The organisation was active in sending eventually 14 teams to Belgium, France, Serbia and Russia.[25][18]
When Inglis approached the
Inglis went with the teams sent to Serbia, to work in improving
At Braila with just six other doctors, only one surgeon, Inglis and team were treating 11,000 wounded soldiers and sailors. A letter in tribute to Inglis, in the name of "The Russian Citizen Soldiers" was written at Easter to "express our sincere gratitude for all the care and attention bestowed on us, and we bow low before the tireless and wonderful work of yourself and your personnel, which we see every day directed towards the good of the soldiers allied to your country".[28] Inglis got the news that her nephew was shot in the head and blinded on the day that she was leaving for Reni (Ukraine). She questioned the eternal battle of good and evil referred to in wartime, when she wrote to her sister expressing her sorrow for her nephew, ending with "we are just here in it, and whatever we lose, it is for the right we are standing...it is all terrible and awful, and I don't believe we can disentangle it all in our minds just now. The only thing is just to go on doing our bit."[18]
Inglis, "an indomitable little figure" lasted another summer in Russia, before she too was forced to return in poor health to the United Kingdom, dying almost on arrival, suffering from
Death and legacy
Inglis died on 26 November 1917, the day after she arrived back in Britain, with her sisters at her bedside at the Station Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne.[8][34][35][36]
Inglis's body lay in state at
In London, a subsequent memorial service, attended by members of the royal families of Britain and Serbia, was held at
Inglis is buried in the north section of Dean Cemetery, on a corner north of the central path. Her parents, John Forbes David Inglis (1820–1894) and Harriet Lowes Thompson (1827–1885), as well as her cousin, Sir Henry Simson, lie nearby in the same cemetery.[38][39][40]
Her main physical memorial was the building of the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in 1925 which was operational until 1988. Many Edinburgh children were born there during the 20th century. It was closed by the National Health Service in 1988 and sold off. Part of it is now an old people's home, part is private housing, and parts are demolished; it is no longer recognisable as a hospital. At its closure there were public protests that a new maternity unit should also be named after Inglis, which has not yet happened (2020).[45] A small plaque to Elsie Inglis exists near the south-west corner at the entrance to Holyrood Park.[10]
A nursing career development scheme in NHS Lothian is called 'the Elsies'.[45]
Inglis was commemorated on a new series of banknotes issued by the Clydesdale Bank in 2009; her image appeared on the new issue of £50 notes.[46][47] In March 2015, the British Residence in Belgrade was renamed 'Elsie Inglis House' in recognition of her work in the country.[48] The ceremony was conducted by the President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic and the UK Ambassador Denis Keefe said
"Elsie Inglis was one of the first women in Scotland who had finished high education and was a pioneer of medicine. She fought energetically against prejudice, for social and political emancipation of women in Britain. She was also a tireless volunteer, courageous organiser of the Scottish Women's Hospitals and a dedicated humanitarian. Unfortunately, Elsie Inglis didn't live long enough to see the triumph of some of her ideas, but she has had a tremendous influence on social trends in our country. In Scotland she became a doctor, in Serbia she became a saint."[45]
In 2020 it was noted that Serbia's first palliative care hospice will also be named after Elsie Inglis.[45]
In November 2017, a memorial plaque to Elsie Inglis and 15 women who died as a result of their service to the Scottish Women's Hospitals was set in Edinburgh Central Library.[49]
Inglis's name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the
The Women's Roll of Honour plaque in York Minster[53] also includes Inglis' name.
Inglis's younger sister Eva Helen Shaw McLaren wrote her biography Elsie Inglis, The Woman With the Torch[54][1] in 1920, and in 2009 a coloured illustrated edition was published,[55] a reference is to Florence Nightingale known as 'The Lady of the Lamp'. The Project Gutenberg has published the former book.[56]
In Eva's papers was found an unpublished manuscript novel by Inglis, 'The Story of a Modern Woman', whose heroine, Hildeguard Forrest, may be seen as autobiographical in part, and in a boating accident the narrator says 'in a sudden flash....[she] suddenly realised she wasn't a coward'.[1]
Inglis was described as one of the 'greatest-ever' Scottish women, 'a great role model and someone young Scots can be proud of'.[1] A journalist called unsuccessfully on the Scottish Ministers to name Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Children and Young People after Elsie Inglis.[45]
Sir Winston Churchill wrote of the SWH: 'No body of women has won a higher reputation in the Great War.....their work, lit up by the fame of Dr. Inglis, will shine in history'.[18]
Statue
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh launched a plan to make a permanent memorial to Inglis in the city in November 2021. There are more than 43 statues of men in Edinburgh city centre but only two statues of women,[57] and on the Royal Mile itself (the site for Elsie's statue) there are twelve statues of men, and Elsie's will be the first statue of a woman.[58] There was a campaign to raise the £47,500 funding for the memorial statue, virtual tours (through a QR code on the statue) and other ways to commemorate "a truly revered and treasured figure in Edinburgh's history".[59]
As part of this campaign, an event was held by Girlguiding Scotland on 5 March 2022, in the Meadows in Edinburgh. This event was a sponsored 'sit still', with lots of activities sitting still, such as badge making, first aid and making a shelter from sticks.[60] At this event, there was also a bespoke Elsie Inglis bus tour, provided by Edinburgh Bus Tours, that visited areas linked to Elsie Inglis around Edinburgh. This event was to raise funds for the memorial statue for Elsie, raise awareness and inspire the people of Girlguiding Scotland to do anything they put their mind to.[60] Girlguiding Scotland also created an Elsie Inglis Challenge Pack.[61] Girlguiding Scotland also created an accompanying badge for when members complete some activities from the Challenge Pack.[62]
By May 2022, this crowd-funding drive by Thea Laurie and Fiona Garwood, raised £50,000, by engaging politicians and organisations and public figures like author, Sara Sheridan, tennis coach Judy Murray, scientist Linda Bauld and MSP Jenni Minto, as well as the Lord Provost. They said '"Dr Inglis is the perfect representative for women in Edinburgh. Her achievements in philanthropy and her efforts during World War One are just exceptional. She was a woman who would not be told to sit still and know her place."[63] It will be built on the site of her first hospital at 219 High Street, Edinburgh.[63] A competition for the design of the statue was launched, but on 17 October 2022 the charity's trustees announced that they had decided to cancel the contest and award the commission to Alexander Stoddart, the King's Sculptor in Ordinary.[64] The announcement was met with criticism,[65][66] and the trustees 'paused' the process to reflect on feedback and to consider their options.[67]
Commemorative Stamp
In December 2015, the British Embassy in Serbia partnered with the Serbia Post to launch a series of six stamps commemorating "British Heroines of the First World War in Serbia". Dr Elsie Inglis was included in the series along with Captain Flora Sandes, Evelina Haverfield, Dr Elizabeth Ross, Dr Katherine MacPhail, and Dr Isabel Emslie Hutton.[68][69]
Awards and honours
In April 1916, Inglis became the first woman to be awarded the
Further information
Mary H. J. Henderson, who had helped set up the hospitals and also served with Inglis in Russia, wrote a poem 'In Memoriam: Elsie Maud Inglis', Henderson's poem described Inglis as a heroine.[72]
See also
- People on Scottish banknotes
- Other notable women volunteers in the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
- Women in World War I
- The Serbian campaign (1914-1915)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p MacPherson, Hamish (5 May 2020). "Greatest Scot? The many talents of Dr Elsie Inglis". The National. p. 20. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
when she saw suffering or injustice she wanted to make a difference... and what she did paved the way for other women to come after her..... Alan Cumming in an interview with Nan Spowart on 11 November 2017 The National
- ^ The National Archives. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- ^ a b c "Serbian White Eagle: Scotswoman as the first woman recipient", Aberdeen Journal, 15 April 1916
- ^ ISBN 9780748632930.
- ^ a b Knox, William (2006). Lives of Scottish Women: Women and Scottish Society, 1800–1980. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 141.
- ^ Simson/Inglis graves Dean Cemetery
- ISBN 978-1-000-55661-2. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ S2CID 4421593.
- ISBN 9781141571468.
- ^ a b "The legacy of Elsie Inglis – Edinburgh's shame". The History Company. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ "Bruntsfield Hospital". Historic Hospitals. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-84645-007-5.
- ^ Leah Leneman, 'Inglis, Elsie Maud (1864–1917)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 6 June 2015
- ^ Lawrence, Margot (1971). Shadow of Swords: A Biography of Elsie Inglis. Great Britain: Northhumberland Press Limited. p. 81.
- ^ Lovejoy, Esther Pohl (1957). Women Doctors of the World. New York: Macmillan. p. 288.
- ^ "General notices". The Scotsman. 5 February 1909. p. 1.
- ^ "Edinburgh NUWSS". Women's Franchise. 11 February 1909. p. 393.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m MacPherson, Hamish (12 May 2020). "Dr Elsie Inglis and the legacy she left behind". The National. p. 20. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ISBN 0-08-041201-7.
- ISBN 071810871X.
- ^ Sheffield Telegraph, 30 November 1917.
- ^ Common Cause, 30 October 1914.
- ISBN 071810871X.
- ^ "Collection box and medals, associated with Scottish Women's Hospitals units and Dr Elsie Inglis". National Museum of Scotland, via SCRAN search. 000-180-000-413-C.
- ^ "Scottish Women's Hospital Unit". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Brocklehurst, Steven (26 November 2017). "The female war medic who refused to 'go home and sit still'". BBC Scotland News. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
When Elsie Inglis asked the War Office if female doctors and surgeons could serve in front-line hospitals in World War One she was told 'my good lady, go home and sit still'.
- ISBN 9781903155684.
- ^ a b c McLaren, Eva Shaw (1919). A History of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 8, 194, 210.
- ^ "Doctor Eileen Crofton: Physician and author who uncovered a story of". The Independent. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ "The War – In the Dobrudja – Story of a Brave Englishwoman – Work of the Scottish Women's Hospital Unit". The Guardian. 2 January 1917. p. 3.
refers to an article in 'The Telegraph'
- ^ "Nurses Adventures in Rumania – Scottish Hospital Staff in The Retreat". The Scotsman. 29 December 1916. p. 4.
- ^ "Scots "Angels of Mercy" – The Great Work of the Women's Hospitals". The Courier (2nd ed.). 23 November 1917. p. 2.
- ^ "Great Britain and the East ...as the result of a meeting...". The Near East. London. 3 August 1917. p. 269.
- ^ "Certified Copy of an entry of Death". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ Joyce, Dr Robin (22 January 2017). "DEEDS NOT WORDS : The Story of Dr Elsie Inglis". Women's History Network. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
On 26 November 1917, the suffragist and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service, Dr Elsie Inglis, passed away at the Station Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne. She was returning home with her all women hospital units from her last mission in Serbia and Russia, but never reached Edinburgh.
- ^ "Elsie Inglis". www.rcpe.ac.uk. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Edinburgh. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
Inglis and her unit landed in Newcastle and the following day, 26 November 1917, in the presence of her sisters, Inglis died.
- ^ Lawrence, Margot (1971). Shadow of Swords: A Biography of Elsie Inglis. Great Britain: Northumberland Press Limited.
- ^ Kim Traynor (31 August 2010). "NT2374 : Grave of Dr. Elsie Inglis, Dean Cemetery". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ "Elsie Maud Inglis grave monument details at Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland". www.gravestonephotos.com. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ "Robert Simson grave monument details at Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland". www.gravestonephotos.com. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ Tomic, Alexandra (9 October 2015). "British Women on the Serbian Front in the First World War". National Army Museum, London. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ "Edinburgh to name street after medical pioneer Elsie Inglis". Edinburg Evening News. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Walker, Alan (31 July 2015). "Campaign from on high at St Jude's". Church Times. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ "Memorials in St Giles'". St Giles' Cathedral. 27 March 2020. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Scottish doctor found first human coronavirus case in 1960s". The National. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ "Banknote designs mark Homecoming". BBC News. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ The Scotsman: "Bank proves Elsie Inglis was woman of (£50) note".
- ^ "Serbia honours life of war doctor Elsie Inglis". Edinburgh Evening News. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ Pringle, Fiona (7 November 2017). "Memorial of Elsie Inglis set for Central Library". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ "Historic statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett unveiled in Parliament Square". Gov.uk. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ Topping, Alexandra (24 April 2018). "First statue of a woman in Parliament Square unveiled". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ "Millicent Fawcett statue unveiling: the women and men whose names will be on the plinth". iNews. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ "York Minster – Five Sisters Window and the Women's Roll of Honour". Lives of the First World War. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ McLaren, Eva Shaw (1920). Elsie Inglis: The Woman With the Torch. New York: Macmillan.
- ISBN 9781409963530.
- ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elsie Inglis, by Eva Shaw McLaren".
- ^ "Elsie Inglis to have long-awaited statue placed on Royal Mile after £50k raised". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Elsie Inglis". A Statue for Elsie Inglis. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Elsie Inglis statue on the cards as volunteers given go-ahead to host week of events". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Girlguiding Edinburgh – Past Event: Go Home & Sit Still (March 2022)". www.girlguiding-edinburgh.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Elsie Inglis Challenge Badge Pack - January 2022.pptx".
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(help) - ^ "Girlguiding Edinburgh – Introducing Elsie Inglis". www.girlguiding-edinburgh.org.uk. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ a b Flockhart, Gary (9 May 2022). "Elsie Inglis to have long-awaited statue placed on Royal Mile after £50k raised". www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ "The Statue". A Statue for Elsie Inglis. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Row over man appointed to make feminist Elsie Inglis sculpture". BBC News. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ Ferguson, Brian (18 October 2022). "War of words erupts after King Charles' official sculptor wins Elsie Inglis commission for Royal Mile". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Campaign for sculpture of feminist Elsie Inglis is 'paused' after row". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "British WW1 Heroines commemorated on official Serbian Stamps". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- ^ "Serbia celebrates British heroines of the First World War". British Library: European studies blog. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
- ^ "Calls to restore 'forgotten' Elsie Inglis grave", Edinburgh Evening News, 8 November 2013, retrieved 11 February 2014
- ^ Medals and papers of Dr Elsie Inglis (PDF), Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Library & Archive, 2009, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2014, retrieved 11 February 2014
- – via The Free Library.
Bibliography
- The archives of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics, ref 2SWH[permanent dead link]
- Leneman, Leah (1994). In the Service Of Life: The Story of Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Women's Hospitals. Edinburgh: The Mercat Press.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Leneman, Leah (1998). Elsie Inglis: Founder of battlefront hospitals run entirely by women. UK: NMS Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-901663-09-4.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - "Elsie Inglis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford. 2004.
- Tait, Dr. H.P. (1964). Dr Elsie Maud Inglis, 1864-1917: A Great Lady Doctor. Bridgend, Wales: Bridgend Press.
External links
- Short biography
- Bruntsfield Hospital and Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital (Lothian Health Services Archive)
- The Scotsman archives
- Surgeons' Hall Museum, Edinburgh.
- University of Edinburgh
- Medical doctor and history, Documentary film – EAI
- Russian medical missions in Serbia during WW1, RTS Documentary
- Girlguiding Scotland's 2022 Campaign Archived 27 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine for an Elsie Inglis statue in Edinburgh