Alice Helen Anne Boyle (1869 – November 1957) was an Irish-British physician and psychologist. She was

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

's first female general practitioner, and the first female president of the

Royal Medico-Psychological Association The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

(now the Royal College of Psychiatrists). Boyle had a passion for helping women with mental illness in poverty and used this to begin an era of proper treatment for mental disorders.

Early life and education

Helen Boyle was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland, in 1869, and studied in France and Germany, before moving to England in 1887. She studied 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 ...

from 1890 to 1893, under

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, ...

. In 1893, she qualified through the Scottish triple examination which allowed Scottish medical schools to equalise with other schools globally. Boyle became licensed in the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

and the

Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exist ...

and completed a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

(MD) degree in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1894.

Career

From 1894 to 1897, Boyle worked as an assistant medical officer at

Claybury Hospital Claybury Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Woodford Bridge, London. It was built to a design by the English architect George Thomas Hine who was a prolific Victorian architect of hospital buildings. It was opened in 1893 making it the Fifth ...

, where she focused on

neurological disorder A neurological disorder is any disorder of the nervous system. Structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord or other nerves can result in a range of symptoms. Examples of symptoms include paralysis, muscle weakn ...

s, as well as the

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

Mission Hospital. During her time in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, she was shocked by the way patients had to deal with emotional stress. While there, she became the first psychiatrist to identify

bacillary dysentery Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery, and is a severe form of shigellosis. It is associated with species of bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae. The term is usually restricted to ''Shigella'' infections. Shigellosis is caused by one ...

among mental health patients in the facility. Boyle later became the medical superintendent at Canning Town Mission Hospital in the East End of London. As a result of the first hand experience she gained in working with mentally ill women in poverty, she was inspired to start her own facility. In 1897, she moved to

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, where she and

Mabel Jones Mabel Jones (c. 1865–1923) was a British physician and a sympathizer to the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Medical career Trained in London and from 1898, she worked in a practice with her fellow student, Dr Helen Boyle in Brig ...

set up the Lewes Road Dispensary for Women and Children, a

GP surgery Ambulatory care or outpatient care is medical care provided on an outpatient basis, including diagnosis, observation, consultation, treatment, intervention, and rehabilitation services. This care can include advanced medical technology and proced ...

Roundhill Crescent Roundhill Crescent (sometimes spelt Round Hill Crescent) is a late-19th-century housing development in Round Hill, an inner suburb of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Partly developed in the 1860s with large terraced houses on a st ...

. In doing so, Boyle became the first female general practitioner in

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

. Jones mostly looked over Lewes Road Dispensary which allowed Boyle to move to Brighton to start another hospital. In 1905, Boyle set up the Lady Chichester Hospital in Brighton for women suffering with

mental diseases A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. The hospital offered free or low cost care in a mostly women environment. This practice was made specifically for the treatment of early mental disorders which was the first facility ever created for that type of treatment. The practice later relocated to Hove, and was founded to counter the problem of mentally ill women being sent to asylums. The facility was the only one in Brighton to provide

inpatient care Inpatient care is the care of patients whose condition requires admission to a hospital. Progress in modern medicine and the advent of comprehensive out-patient clinics ensure that patients are only admitted to a hospital when they are extremely ...

. One of Boyle's patients in 1922 was the outsider artist

Madge Gill Madge Gill (1882–1961), born Maude Ethel Eades, was an English outsider and visionary artist. Early years Born 19 January 1882, an illegitimate child in East Ham, Essex, (now Greater London), she spent much of her early years in seclusion ...

, who she seems to have supported in her ambitions to display her works. Boyle worked at this facility for fifty years and remained an integral part of the practice through location changes and expansions. In 1910, she was the only woman to speak during a discussion organised by

Farquhar Buzzard Sir Edward Farquhar Buzzard, 1st Baronet, (20 December 187117 December 1945) was a prominent British physician and Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford (1928–1943). Career Farquhar Buzzard was born on 20 December 1871, ...

about anxiety, depression and

cyclothymia Cyclothymia ( ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia/psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of ...

. 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 ...

, from 1914 to 1918, she worked in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

with the Royal Free Hospital Unit along with James Berry, and after the war, she was awarded the

Queen Elisabeth Medal The Queen Elisabeth Medal ( nl, Koningin Elisabeth Medaille, french: Médaille de la reine Élisabeth) was a Belgian decoration created by royal decree in October 1916 to recognise exceptional services to Belgium in the relief of the suffering of ...

and the Order of St.Sava. Boyle joined the

(now the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

) in 1898. After being an active and integral member of the association for years, Boyle became its first female president. In 1955 the association held their spring meeting in

, to commemorate 50 years of the Lady Chichester Hospital. She was also involved in the creation of the Guardianship Society (1913), 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 ...

(1917), the International Medical Women's Federation (1922), The Child Guidance Council, and the

National Association for Mental Health Mind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. Founded in 1946 as the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH), it celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016. Mind offers information and advice to people with mental health problems an ...

(now known as Mind).

Death and legacy

In 1929, Boyle moved to

Pyecombe Pyecombe is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The name 'Pyecombe' may derive from the Saxons, Saxon "pic" meaning point or pike, in which case it may mean "valley marked by a projecting hill". Pyeco ...

, West Sussex and she died there in November 1957, one day after her 88th birthday. /sup> /sup> She was pioneer in mental health care for women. In 2015, a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

Aldrington Aldrington is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, previously part of the old borough of Hove. For centuries it was meadow land along the English Channel stretching west from the old village of Hove to the old mouth of the River Adur, and i ...

House was erected for her, and a Brighton & Hove bus has been named in her honour.

Awards and honours

* Order of St.Sava

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Helen 1869 births 1957 deaths 19th-century British medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors Medical doctors from Dublin (city) People from Hove British women medical doctors British general practitioners British women psychiatrists Recipients of the Order of St. Sava 20th-century women physicians 19th-century women physicians People from Mid Sussex District