Eleanor Davies-Colley

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal ...

(21 August 1874; Petworth, Sussex – 10 December 1934;

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) was a British surgeon. Among the earliest women in the UK to pursue a career in surgery, at that time an almost entirely male-dominated profession, she was also the co-founder of the

South London Hospital for Women and Children The South London Hospital for Women and Children was a general hospital treating women and children on Clapham Common in London, UK. It was also known as the South London Hospital for Women and the South London Women's Hospital. Founded by Elean ...

Early life

Born at Petworth in Sussex, her father, John Neville Colley Davies-Colley, was a surgeon at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

; her maternal grandfather, Thomas Turner, was also treasurer of that hospital. Her elder sister was the painter Frances Baker, and the feminist and publisher Harriet Weaver was her cousin. She studied at Baker Street High School for Girls and Queen's College, London. After leaving school, she at first worked with poor children in London's East End.

Medical education and career

Davies-Colley studied medicine at 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 ...

(1902–7), achieving the

MB BS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

degree in 1907, and was awarded the MD degree by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1910. In 1911, she became the first female fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

. Davies-Colley's career as a surgeon spanned almost thirty years. On graduating in 1907, she became a house surgeon under Maud Chadburn (with whom she was to live and work for twenty-five years) at the

New Hospital for Women The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital and its predecessor organisations provided health care to women in central London from the mid-Victorian era. It was named after Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, one of Britain's first female physi ...

, founded by

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She was the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon. She was the co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women, ...

; renamed the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital after Garrett Anderson's death in 1917, it is now part of the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Hospitals. She then became demonstrator in anatomy at the London School of Medicine and surgical registrar at the Royal Free Hospital. In addition to her work at the South London Hospital, in later life she was also a surgeon at the Marie Curie Cancer Hospital and senior

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital. In 1917, she was one of the founding members of the

Medical Women's Federation The Medical Women's Federation is the largest UK body of women doctors. The organisation is dedicated to the advancement of the personal and professional development of women in medicine and to improving the health of women and their families i ...

South London Hospital for Women and Children

Davies-Colley and her colleague Maud Chadburn began raising funds in 1911 for a new

. At that time, such hospitals served the dual purpose of improving medical care for women and enhancing career prospects for female medical practitioners, as many hospitals refused to employ women. Aided by her cousin Harriet Weaver and other feminists, enough money was raised to open an outpatients' department in

Newington Causeway __NOTOC__ Newington Causeway is a road in Southwark, London, between the Elephant and Castle and Borough High Street. Elephant & Castle Underground station is at the southern end. It follows the route of the old Roman road Stane Street. In 19 ...

in 1912. A purpose-built eighty-bed hospital on

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

, staffed entirely by women, was opened by Queen Mary on 4 July 1916. Davies-Colley worked at the South London Hospital for Women and Children from its foundation until her death, holding various positions including senior surgeon. The hospital remained open until 1984. It was unusual in retaining the women-only staffing policy, initiated by Davies-Colley and Chadburn, right up until closure.

Death and legacy

Davies-Colley died suddenly of thyroid toxaemia in London in 1934. One of the Royal College of Surgeons' lecture theatres at

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

was refurbished and dedicated in Eleanor Davies-Colley's memory in 2004, with the aim of celebrating the role of women in surgery and encouraging more women to enter the profession. A major fundraising drive (led by another pioneering woman surgeon, Averil Mansfield, the first woman to become a professor of surgery in the UK) raised nearly a quarter of a million pounds for the project. The lecture theatre contains a visual representation featuring Eleanor Davies-Colley and other pioneering female surgeons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies-Colley, Eleanor 1874 births 1934 deaths English surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England People educated at Queen's College, London People from Petworth English women medical doctors Alumni of the London School of Medicine for Women 20th-century British women scientists Women surgeons 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 20th-century women physicians