Aleen Isobel Cust (7 February 1868 – 29 January 1937) was an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
veterinary surgeon. She was born and began her career in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. In 1922 she became the first female veterinary surgeon to be recognised by the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...
.
Early life and education
Aleen Cust was born in 1868 in
Cordangan Manor,
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...
. Her father
Sir Leopold Cust, 2nd Baronet was the grandson of
Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow
Brownlow Cust, 1st Baron Brownlow (3 December 1744 – 25 December 1807), of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire (known as Sir Brownlow Cust, 4th Baronet, from 1770 to 1776), was a British Tory Member of Parliament.
Origins
He was the son ...
, and worked as a land agent to the Smith-Barry family.
Her mother Charlotte Sobieske Isabel (née Bridgeman) was the daughter of Vice-Admiral
Charles Orlando Bridgeman, and granddaughter of
Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford
Orlando Bridgeman, 1st Earl of Bradford (19 March 1762 – 7 September 1825) was a British peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1784 to 1800.
Bridgeman was the son of the Henry Bridgeman, 1st Baron Bradford, 1st Baron Bradfo ...
and
Sir Henry Chamberlain, 1st Baronet
Sir Henry Chamberlain, 1st Baronet (1773– 31 July 1829) was a British diplomat, consul general to Portugal and chargé d'affaires to Brazil. He was created a baronet on 22 February 1828.
Henry was a natural son of the Honourable Henry F ...
.
The fourth of six children,
she enjoyed the outdoors as a child, and when asked about her future she claimed "a vet was my reply ever and always."
She began training as a nurse at
London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...
, but gave it up to become a veterinary surgeon.
Following the death of her father in 1878, Major Shallcross Fitzherbert Widdington, her guardian, encouraged her to pursue an education and funded her attendance at
William Williams's
New Veterinary College
The Gateway Theatre (built as the New Edinburgh Veterinary College) was a Category C listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk.
History
Veterinary College
The building was purpose-built by William Ha ...
in Edinburgh.
As her mother was acting as a
Woman of the Bedchamber
In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Ge ...
to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
,
Cust enrolled under the name A.I. Custance to avoid any embarrassment for her family.
She completed her veterinary studies in 1897, winning the gold medal for zoology,
but was denied permission to sit the final examination and consequently was not admitted as a member of
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...
(RCVS).
She challenged this in the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...
, seeking to overturn the decision of the RCVS examination committee, but the court declined to rule on the basis that the RCVS was not domiciled in Scotland.
She refrained from legal action in London, perhaps due to the potential cost, or potential social embarrassment to her mother.
Career
Cust nevertheless went on to practise in
County Roscommon
"Steadfast Irish heart"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Connacht
, subdi ...
with William Augustine Byrne MRCVS,
having received a personal recommendation from
William Williams,
and lived at Castlestrange House (location of the
Castlestrange stone, in the
Suck Valley) near
Athleague
Athleague () is a village and a parish in the Diocese of Elphin on the River Suck in the west of Ireland in County Roscommon, near the town of Roscommon.
Its church was founded sometime around 500 by Maenucan Atha Liacc ('Maonagán of Athlea ...
.
The ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' states that there is reason to believe that Byrne and Cust "lived as man and wife and that she had two daughters, born in Scotland, who were later adopted".
In 1904 she was briefly engaged to Bertram Widdington, the son of her former guardian, but following objections from his family regarding her career, the wedding did not go ahead.
Cust was later appointed as a veterinary inspector by
Galway County Council
Galway County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe) is the authority responsible for local government in County Galway, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for hous ...
under the
Diseases of Animals Acts, an appointment that was denied by the RCVS due to her lack of professional recognition.
The post was advertised again, and when Cust was again selected for the post an agreement was reached under which she carried out the duties of the position with an amended title.
Upon the death of Byrne in 1910, Cust took over the veterinary practice.
She practised from Fort Lyster House near Athleague. (Both Castlestrange and Fort Lyster were later demolished.)
Upon the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914, Cust left Ireland to volunteer at the front and appears to have aided in the treatment and care of horses,
working with the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
from a base near
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
.
In 1917 she was appointed to an army bacteriology laboratory which was associated with a veterinary hospital.
She is listed as a member of the
Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps
The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), known as Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps (QMAAC) from 9 April 1918, was the women's corps of the British Army during and immediately after the First World War. It was established in February 1917 and d ...
from January to November 1918 and it has been suggested that it was her war time work that aided in her acceptance into the RCVS after the war.
The
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...
in London did not recognise Cust's right to practice in her own right in Britain until 1922, following the enactment of the
Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It became law when it received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919.''Oliver & Boyd's new Edinburgh almanac and national repository for the year 1921''. p. 213 ...
.
Given her years of experience, she was only asked to take the oral part of the final examination.
On 21 December 1922, the president of the RCVS, Henry Sumner, personally presented Cust with her diploma, and she thus became the first woman to be awarded such a diploma.
["The First Woman Veterinary Surgeon", ''The British Medical Journal'', Vol. 2, No. 3234 (23 December 1922), p. 1236; https://www.jstor.org/stable/20422053]
Later life and recognition
Due to failing health, Cust only continued to practice as a veterinarian for another two years, retiring in 1924.
Having sold her practice, she moved to the village of
Plaitford
Plaitford is a small village in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Romsey, which lies approximately 4.9 miles (7.8 km) east from the village; the large village of West Wellow is immediately west of Plaitford ...
, in the
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England.
She died of heart failure
in Jamaica on 29 January 1937 whilst visiting friends.
Upon her death she left the RCVS a sum of money to found the Aleen Cust Research Scholarship.
In 2007 a plaque was erected in honour of Cust at Castlestrange House, Athleague by
Women in Technology and Science and the
, with support from Veterinary Ireland.
See also
*
Joan Morice
Joan Alison Morice (5 October 1904 – 24 November 1944) was the first woman to qualify and practice as a veterinary surgeon in South Africa. She graduated from Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa in 1927 and it was nineteen years l ...
- First female South African veterinary surgeon.
References
Further reading
* Ford, Connie M. (1990). "Aleen Cust, Veterinary Surgeon – Britain's First Woman Vet". Biopress.
* Ó hÓgartaigh, Margaret (2006). 'Female Veterinary Surgeons in Ireland, 1900-30', ''Irish Veterinary Journal'', 59: pp. 388–389.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cust, Aileen
1868 births
1937 deaths
19th-century Irish women
19th-century Irish people
People from County Roscommon
People from County Tipperary
Irish veterinarians
Irish people of World War I
Women veterinarians
20th-century Irish people
20th-century Irish women
Aleen