The Cadell grave, Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh

Grace Ross Cadell (October 25, 1855 – February 19, 1918) was a Scottish doctor and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, and one of the first group of women to study medicine in Scotland and qualify. She was, with

Elsie Inglis Eliza Maud "Elsie" Inglis (16 August 1864 – 26 November 1917) was a Scottish doctor, surgeon, teacher, Women's suffrage, suffragist, and founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service, Scottish Women's Hospitals. She was the ...

, one of the initial entrants to the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, set up by

Sophia Jex-Blake Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (21 January 1840 – 7 January 1912) was an English physician, teacher and feminist. She led the campaign to secure women access to a University education when she and six other women, collectively known as the Edi ...

in 1886. She stood up to Jex-Blake over a disciplinary matter, being dismissed from the school and subsequently successfully sued Jex-Blake and her school. Her career as a physician and surgeon was devoted mainly to the care of women and children. She became an active suffragette as was well known for public acts of defiance in the cause of women's suffrage. She was prominent in providing medical care and refuge for her fellow suffragettes, some of whom were released into her care directly from episodes of force feeding in prison. Her home became well known as a sanctuary for suffragettes.

Early life and education

Grace Ross Cadell was born on 25 October 1855, the oldest of four daughters of George Philip Cadell of Carriden,

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

, who was superintendent of the local coalworks, and his wife Martina Duncanson Fleming. In 1887, with her sister, Martha Georgina Cadell, she became one of the students in the first intake at the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women which had been established by

in 1886. The lectures were given in the school's premises in Surgeons' Square and clinical teaching at Leith Hospital. Jex-Blake was regarded by her students as a strict disciplinarian, and her rules required that the students leave Leith Hospital by 5pm. On 8 June 1888, Grace and Martha Cadell, along with Elizabeth Christie and Ida Balfour, stayed in the hospital after this hour to follow a patient with head injury. When Jex-Blake learned of this breach of her rules she expelled Grace and Martha Cadell from the School. Their response was to bring an action for damages against Jex-Blake and the School. The sisters claimed £500 in damages, and the court found in their favour, awarding each £50 in damages in July 1890. The resulting publicity was a major setback for Jex-Blake and her School.

, a fellow student, had been unhappy with the handling of the affair and left the School in 1889. With the help of her father John Inglis, a keen supporter of medical education for women, she established the

Edinburgh College of Medicine for Women The Edinburgh College of Medicine for Women was established by Elsie Inglis and her father John Inglis. Elsie Inglis went on to become a leader in the suffrage movement and found the Scottish Women's Hospital organisation in World War I, but whe ...

in Chambers Street. Inglis and the Cadell sisters became students at the college. The Cadell sisters did well academically with Martha winning the medal for midwifery and Grace the medal for medical jurisprudence. Grace Cadell qualified in 1891 after passing the examinations for the '

Triple Qualification The Triple Qualification (TQ) was a medical qualification awarded jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty (later Royal College) of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow betwe ...

' of LRCPE, LRCSE and LFPSG (although like many of her contemporaries she chose to abbreviate this to LRCP&SEd). This qualification had been set up jointly by the three Scottish Medical Royal Colleges to allow those not able to enter university to sit exams equivalent to those sat by university students. This enabled her name to go on to the

Medical Register The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...

and allowed her to practise as a doctor. Women did not graduate in medicine from a Scottish University until 1894.

Career

Medical career

Jex-Blake had established the Edinburgh Hospital for Women and Children, at Bruntsfield, which would later become

Bruntsfield Hospital Bruntsfield Hospital was a women's hospital based in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. History The hospital had its origins in public dispensary opened by Sophia Jex-Blake at 73 Grove Street in September 1878. It moved to 6 Grove St ...

. This had an entirely female staff and the newly qualified Cadell was appointed as surgical resident. The-hospice

In 1899, when Elsie Inglis created the Medical Women's Club, set up with the prime aim of starting a hospital for women, Grace Cadell was a prominent member of the club and subsequently served on the medical committee of the hospital, which was opened at 11 George Square. In 1904 she joined the staff of The Hospice, on the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

, a hospital for women and children which had been set up by Elsie Inglis. She specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology and in 1911 she took over directorship of the whole clinic. She later became registrar 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 ...

in London.

Suffrage activities

On 9 October 1909, Cadell was one of the many suffragettes on the public procession in Edinburgh demanding Votes for Women, locally named the "Gude Cause". An active suffragette she was president of the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

branch of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

(WSPU) in 1907 before re-aligning to the newly created

Women's Freedom League The Women's Freedom League was an organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigned for women's suffrage and sexual equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access ...

(WFL). In 1912 as a result of refusing to pay taxes as a protest, her furniture was seized and publicly sold at the Mercat Cross on the

. She turned the gathering into a suffrage meeting. During the Scottish Suffrage Campaign of 1913-14 (which involved attacks on specific buildings) she was medical advisor to those on hunger strike in prison. Under the Cat and Mouse Act 1913 this often meant prisoners were released into her personal care to recover.

Ethel Moorhead Ethel Agnes Mary Moorhead (28 August 18694 March 1955) was a British suffragette and painter and was the first suffragette in Scotland to be forcibly-fed. Early life Moorhead was born on 28 August 1869 in Fisher Street, Maidstone, Kent. She ...

was infamously released into her care following force-feeding at Calton Jail, as were both

Edith Hudson Edith Hudson (born 1872) was a British nurse and suffragette. She was an active member of the Edinburgh branch of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was arrested several times for her part in their protests in Scotland and London ...

and

Arabella Scott Arabella Scott (7 May 1886 – 27 August 1980) was a Scottish teacher, suffragette and campaigner. As a member of the Women's Freedom League (WFL) she took a petition to Downing Street in July 1909. She subsequently adopted more militant tac ...

. In another act of rebellion Cadell refused to stamp the insurance cards of her five servants and was fined £50 by Lord Salvesen in the Glasgow High Court. The trial made the newspapers due to fellow-suffragettes throwing apples at the judge (but hitting one of the jurors), at the sentencing of other suffragettes for arson. Cadell paid her fine with a sackful of copper coins as a further defiance. Her house at 145

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

was a refuge for suffragettes. It stood just north of Smiths Place but was demolished to create a printworks (Allander House). She never married but during the course 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 ...

she adopted four children. In July 1914 she attended the trial at Edinburgh Sherriff Court of

Maude Edwards Maude Edwards was a Scottish feminist and suffragette. She was imprisoned in Perth Prison in 1914 for slashing John Lavery’s portrait of King George V hanging in the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. She was force-fed in prison despite h ...

, who was charged with slashing the portrait of King George V on display at the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

. Edwards was found guilty by Sheriff Maconochie and sentenced to three months imprisonment in Perth Prison (Perth being harder for her suffragette friends in Edinburgh to attend or to be a nuisance). Cadell was forcibly removed by three constables during the trial for causing an affray but was not arrested.

Death and legacy

The inscription to Grace Cadell in Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh She died at Mosspark House, on the

Rumbling Bridge Rumbling Bridge is a small village built on both side of a gorge of the River Devon, which formed the boundary between the historic counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire and is now within the combined Perth and Kinross council area, Scotland, w ...

road at Yetts o'Muckhart, on 19 February 1918. She was buried with her parents and sisters in Morningside Cemetery. In her will, she left over £50,000 plus property and movable assets, a considerable sum at that time. This was left partly to charity, to remaining family and partly to her four adoptive children, only one of whom, Grace Emmeline Cadell, took her surname. The others were Margaret Frances Clare Sydney, George Bell, and Maurice Philip Shaw. Grace Emmeline was clearly named after

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

and is thought to have been adopted as a new-born from a young girl at the

Magdalene House Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 mixed, Church of England, independent day school and sixth form in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the co ...

in Edinburgh, where unwed girls would have their children removed and made to work in workhouse conditions as "punishment" for becoming pregnant. The other three (older children) are thought to have been from Dean Orphanage on the west of the city. The will gave all £150 per annum for the remainder of their lives, around four or five times the average annual salary at the time. In 2009, a re-enactment of the sale of Grace Cadell's furniture was held at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh. The re-enactment was staged by actors of the Citadel Arts Group to promote their play ''What Women want'' which depicted suffrage events in Scotland and featured Grace Cadell's story. In 2022 the Leith Walk Historical Trust erected a plaque close to the location of her house on

Personal life

Her niece Isobel Cadell (1890–1971) married Harry MacDonald Simson, cousin of the eminent physician Sir

Henry Simson Sir Henry John Forbes Simson (12 December 1872 – 13 September 1932) was an eminent British physician who became obstetrician to the British royal family and delivered (amongst many others) the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess M ...

, himself a cousin of

, making Elsie her second cousin.Inscription on the Simson and Inglis graves, Dean Cemetery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadell, Grace Rose 1855 births 1918 deaths People from Bo'ness Scottish culture Politics of Scotland 19th-century Scottish medical doctors People associated with Edinburgh British feminists 19th-century British medical doctors Scottish women medical doctors 19th-century Scottish women 19th-century women physicians Scottish suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union