Alexandrina Matilda MacPhail,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(3 June 1860 – 6 November 1946) was a Scottish doctor who graduated from the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

. In 1887, she became a missionary and doctor in India, where she founded what would become a large hospital in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. During 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 ...

, she also worked for the

Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...

as a doctor in Serbia and France.

Early life and education

Alexandrina McPhail was born in Knock,

Sleat Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan ''MacDonald of Sleat''. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic , which in turn comes ...

, on the Isle of Skye in June 1860. She was the daughter of Reverend John Sinclair MacPhail, first

Free Church A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

minister of Sleat, and later, minister of the

United Free Church The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

; and Jessie Reid (née Finlayson). MacPhail attended the

and graduated in 1887.

Career

After graduation, she travelled to Madras in India. MacPhail was the first woman physician sent by the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

as a medical missionary. At the time she was sent to take the post, there were only 60 women registered as physicians in England and only ten were serving abroad. MacPhail founded a permanent dispensary and clinic in her home in Madras during 1888, primarily focussing on health care for women and children. Christina Rainy, a Scottish educationist (and sister of

Robert Rainy Robert Rainy (1 January 1826 – 22 December 1906), was a Scottish Presbyterian divine. Rainy Hall in New College, Edinburgh (the Divinity faculty in Edinburgh University) is named after him. Life He was born on New Year's Day 1826 at 28 Mo ...

), arrived in Madras towards the end of the 19th century, and began raising funds to support the clinic back in Scotland. These additional funds allowed for the clinic to be expanded and a fully fledged mission, Rainy Hospital, was opened in 1914 by Lord Pentland. During The Great War, MacPhail travelled to Serbia as a doctor and worked for the French under the auspices of the SWH at a sanatorium in Haute Savoie. MacPhail returned to the hospital in Madras and was still working there in 1928. The hospital was nearly entirely funded by contributions by some private patients and some charitable grants.

Death

MacPhail died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 6 November 1946.

Awards and honours

In 1912 MacPhail received a silver

Kaisar-i-Hind Medal The Kaisar-i-Hind Medal for Public Service in India was a medal awarded by the Emperor/Empress of India between 1900 and 1947, to "any person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex ... who shall have distinguished himself (o ...

for public services in India from the

Indian Viceroy The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

. She was granted an additional service bar to the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in 1918. She was awarded an

in the King George V Birthday honours list 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacPhail, Alexandrina Matilda 1860 births 1946 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century British women medical doctors 19th-century Scottish women medical doctors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal People from the Isle of Skye Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service volunteers 20th-century Scottish women medical doctors