Jessie Handyside Gellatly (7 December 1882 – 30 June 1935) was one of the UK's first university-qualified female doctors. She was one of 16 female doctors who served with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

in 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 ...

, and served as the

medical officer of health A medical officer of health, also known as a medical health officer, chief health officer, chief public health officer or district medical officer, is the title commonly used for the senior government official of a health department, usually at a m ...

(MOH) for Cambridgeshire for most of her life.

Early life and education

The female graduates in Medicine at Edinburgh University in July 1906

Jessie Handyside Gellatly was born on 7 December 1882. Her parents were Mary Anne Cordelia Rae (1853–1936) and John Stewart Gellatly (1846–1914) of 8 Mary's Place,

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, i ...

. She had several siblings, including her eldest brother, John, who died at

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

serving in the

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

in the

. In 1901, she entered

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

studying alongside Agnes Marshall Cowan and others and graduating with and

MB ChB 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 ...

in 1906. She initially worked at Leith Hospital (also with Agnes) and then worked for three years as a

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

for

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

in Bourneville. In 1909, she became the medical officer to Walthamstow Sanatorium, and was elected a member of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

. She received her doctorate ( MD) in 1910 and a Diploma in Public Health (DPH) the same year.

Career

Her Edinburgh address was 36 St Albans Road in the

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

. In Edinburgh, she worked with the

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

pioneer Professor Robert William Philip. In 1914, she moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

to take up the position of medical officer of health for Cambridgeshire. In the

, Gellatly was one of the few women co-opted into joining the Women's Medical Unit of the

in 1916. She embarked in September 1916 and served at the No.65 Hospital in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, working there until July 1917, treating the wounded soldiers from

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. Following attacks on hospital ships in Malta, she was relocated to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. Together with other medical staff and patients, she embarked on HMT ''Abbassieh'' on 4 July 1917. It was escorted by HMS ''Aster'' and . HMS ''Aster'' hit a mine 11 miles off the coast of Malta with the loss of 10 lives. ''Azalea'' hit a mine going to her rescue, but with no loss of life. The convoy was forced to return to port to repair at

Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...

harbour. HMT ''Abbassieh'' left a second time on 6 July, this time successfully reaching

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. A new 65 General Hospital was created there, becoming operational on 30 July. There were eight female doctors in total:

Mary Alice Blair Mary Alice Blair (1880–1962) was a New Zealand doctor who organised hospitals in Malta, Serbia and Salonika during the First World War. She was in charge of Serbian hospital evacuation to Corsica where she was responsible for the thousands of ...

(in overall charge), Elizabeth Herdman Lepper, Ida Emilie Fox, Ethne Haigh, Effie Craig, Elizabeth Hurdon, Margaret McEnery, and Jessie Gellatly. They were classed as civilian surgeons and received the same pay (24 shillings plus a final gratuity of £60) and conditions as their male counterparts (a rarity in those days) but had no uniform until April 1918. On 18 September Gellatly transferred from the RAMC to the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps. After the Armistice she worked for the Serbian Relief Fund. In February 1919, she relinquished her commission and returned to civilian life. Gellatly returned to work as medical officer of health in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

in the summer of 1919. In this capacity, she visited 130 schools twice per year. She lived at 17 Warkworth Street in Cambridge, a mid-terraced townhouse (still standing).

Personal life

She died aged 52 in a nursing home in

on 30 June 1935 after a short illness. She buried in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hil ...

in Edinburgh with her parents. The grave lies to the west side of the central catacombs. As an unmarried and wealthy woman, Gellatly left most of her monies to the church.''Sunday Post'' (newspaper) 20 October 1935

Selected works

*''The Glass Cubicle Method of Isolation'' (1910)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gellatly, Jessie 1882 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century women physicians 20th-century Scottish writers 20th-century Scottish women writers 20th-century British philanthropists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical doctors from Edinburgh British women in World War I Scottish women medical doctors Scottish philanthropists Royal Army Medical Corps officers Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I