Esther Rickards (13 July 1893 – 9 February 1977) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

surgeon and politician. Born in the

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

area of London, Rickards' family were Jewish. In 1913, she, her sister and her cousin protested at the

New West End Synagogue The ‘’’New West End Synagogue’’’, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, London, is one of the oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom still in use. It is one of two synagogues which have been awarded Grade I listed building ...

in support of women's suffrage. Rickards' father was a veterinary surgeon, and she hoped to follow him into the profession. However, at the time, women were not permitted to train as vets, so she instead trained in medicine at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

London School of Medicine London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

and

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...

. In 1923, she obtained her

Master of Surgery The Master of Surgery (Latin: Magister Chirurgiae) is an advanced qualification in surgery. Depending upon the degree, it may be abbreviated ChM, MCh, MChir or MS. At a typical medical school the program lasts between two and three years. The p ...

qualification, an unusual achievement for a woman at the time, and in 1924 she was one of the first women accepted as a

Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons 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 C ...

. Early in her career, Rickards was a resident at St Mary's Hospital, where she developed a specialism in

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

. In 1926, Rickards was appointed as Woman Honorary Surgeon to Outpatients at the

London Lock Hospital The London Lock Hospital was the first voluntary hospital for venereal disease. It was also the most famous and first of the Lock Hospitals which were developed for the treatment of syphilis following the end of the use of lazar hospitals, as l ...

. During this period, she was influenced by Clayton Greene,

Zachary Cope Sir Vincent Zachary Cope MD MS FRCS (14 February 1881 – 28 December 1974) was an English physician, surgeon, author, historian and poet perhaps best known for authoring the book ''Cope's Early Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen'' from 1921 until ...

and C. A. Pannett. She next became an assistant medical officer for

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, covering Paddington. Rickards was a socialist, and in 1930, she chaired the founding meeting of the

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party as a socialist society. History The Social ...

. The following year, the organisation affiliated to the Labour Party, and played a key role in establishing the party's policy of creating the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS). Rickards personally focused on policy relating to maternity, in particular hoping to reduce the rates of mortality around childbirth, and sat on the party's Public Health Advisory Committee. Rickards was elected to the London County Council in 1928, representing

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

for Labour. When the party won control of the council in 1934, she was involved in developing its health policy. She stood unsuccessfully for the party in

Paddington North Paddington North was a borough constituency in the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in London which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post vot ...

at the 1931 general election. From 1947 until her retirement in 1971, Rickards served on the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and St Mary's Hospital Board of Governors. In 1966, she was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

. After retirement, she was an honorary consulting surgeon at St Mary's. When Rickards retired, she moved to Windsor, where she spent much of her time breeding

cocker spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, Cocker ...

s. She chaired the London Cocker Spaniel Society, revived the Windsor Dog Show, judged dog shows on an international basis, and was the first president of the European Spaniel Congress. She rescued the breed of Irish Water Spaniel from near extinction. She also worked on embroidery, making a presidential gown for the Royal College of Surgeons, and together with her sister Phoebe, amassed a large collection of recordings of Mozart and Haydn.

Further Information

An interview with Rickards appeared in the Aberdeen Evening Express in 1973, in which she recounted her life, including her suffragette experiences. She stated that she was 'one of the violnet suffragettes'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickards, Esther 1893 births 1977 deaths Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Dog breeders English gynaecologists English surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Members of London County Council Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Paddington 20th-century surgeons Women councillors in England