Dame Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, (18 August 1912 – 28 December 1999), known professionally as Dr Josephine Barnes, was a leading English

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 surgi ...

and

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, 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 ...

. She was the first female president 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 ...

, 1979. Barnes was also active in the Women's National Cancer Control Campaign with cancer screening.

Early life and education

She was born on 18 August 1912, the eldest of five children of

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister Walter Wharton Barnes and Alice Mary, née Ibbotson. She was born at Cliff Road,

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

, Norfolk and educated at Oxford High School in

North Oxford North Oxford is a suburban part of the city of Oxford in England. It was owned for many centuries largely by St John's College, Oxford and many of the area's Victorian houses were initially sold on leasehold by the College. Overview The le ...

and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, reading

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

. She then studied medicine at

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

.Max Blythe, ‘Barnes, Dame (Alice) Josephine Mary Taylor (1912–1999)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 4 March 2017
/ref>

Career

When the Second World War started, she was appointed to a post at the Samaritan Hospital. From 1947 she ran a mobile obstetric team from University College Hospital. Barnes was the first woman consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central Lond ...

(1954) and the first woman President of the

(1979–80). She was also Chairman of the

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital 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 ...

Appeal Trust, President of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (known since 1994 as the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Women's Health) from 1977 to 1995, and President of the Royal British Nurses' Association. She took a prominent role in the public debate over the

1967 Abortion Act The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulating the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NH ...

. In 1988, she became president of the

Osler Club of London The Osler Club of London is a society founded in 1928 to encourage the study of the history of medicine, particularly amongst medical students, and to keep "green the memory of Sir William Osler". Membership in the club is open to medical men an ...

. In 1994, she delivered the Hunterian Oration at the

Hunterian Society The Hunterian Society, founded in 1819 in honour of the Scottish surgeon John Hunter (1728–1793), is a society of physicians and dentists based in London. Established by Dr William Cooke, a general practitioner, and Thomas Armiger, a surgeo ...

. Between 1995 and 1996, Barnes was president of the

History of Medicine Society Founded by Sir William Osler in 1912, the History of Medicine Society (formally "section"), at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), London, is one of the oldest History of Medicine societies in the world and is one of the four founder committees ...

at the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

. She was a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

, and the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...

(of which she was at one time Vice-President).

Marriage

She married Brian Warren, a lieutenant in the Army, in 1942.

Other

She was a Friend of the English Pocket Opera Company and a Guardian of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

References

External links

Listen to an oral history interview with Dame Josephine Barnes
– a life story interview recorded fo
National Life Stories
at the British Library * – an oral history interview recorded by Oxford Brookes University in partnership with the Royal College of Physicians as part of th
Medical Sciences Video Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Josephine 1912 births 1999 deaths Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Alumni of University College London English gynaecologists English obstetricians English women medical doctors Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Oxford People from Sheringham People educated at Oxford High School, England Fellows of King's College London 20th-century English medical doctors Presidents of the British Medical Association Presidents of the Medical Women's Federation Presidents of the History of Medicine Society 20th-century women physicians Presidents of the Osler Club of London 20th-century English women 20th-century English people Wives of knights