Louisa Garrett Anderson,

CBE 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 ...

(28 July 1873 – 15 November 1943) was a medical pioneer, a member 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 ...

, a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

, and

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

. She was the daughter of the founding medical pioneer

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, ...

, whose biography she wrote in 1939. Anderson was the Chief Surgeon of the Women's Hospital Corps (WHC) and a Fellow of 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 ...

. Her aunt, Dame Millicent Fawcett, was a British

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 ...

. Her partner was fellow doctor and suffragette

Flora Murray Flora Murray (8 May 1869 – 28 July 1923)Flora Murray
findagrave.com was a Scottish medical pioneer, ...

. Her cousin was Dr

Mona Chalmers Watson Alexandra Mary Chalmers Watson CBE, (née Geddes; 31 May 1872 – 7 August 1936), known as Mona Chalmers Watson, was a British physician and head of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. The first woman to receive an MD from the University of Edin ...

who also supported suffragettes and founded the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.

Early life and education

Louisa Garrett Anderson was the oldest of three children of

, the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain, co-founder of 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 ...

and Britain's first elected woman

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. Her father was James George Skelton Anderson, co-owner of the Orient Steamship Company with his uncle Arthur Anderson. She was educated at

St Leonards School St Leonards School is an independent boarding and day school for pupils aged 4–19 in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Founded in 1877 as St Andrews School for Girls Company, it adopted the St Leonards name upon moving to its current premises, the s ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

and London School of Medicine for Women, where she received her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1898. Anderson received her Doctor of Medicine in 1900, enrolled in further postgraduate studies at

Johns Hopkins Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

and traveled to observe operations in Paris and Chicago.

Early career

Despite her education, Anderson was unable to join a general major hospital, as attitudes at the time opposed female doctors treating both men and women. As a result, in 1902, she joined 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 ...

, a women's-only hospital founded by her mother which treated women and children. Anderson first worked as a surgical assistant and later as a senior surgeon. She performed gynaecological and general operations, and co-published a paper with the hospital pathologist in 1908 discussing her hysterectomy operations and dissecting the 265 cases of uterine cancer treated at the New Hospital for Women.

Suffragette activity

From 1903, Anderson had been active in organizations affiliated with the NUWSS, which advocated for gaining voting rights through peaceful means. Frustrated by the lack of progress on voting rights, in 1907, she became an active member of the more radical

WSPU 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 ...

. On 18 November 1910, Anderson joined her mother, Emmeline Pankhurst,

Alfred Caldecott Alfred Caldecott ( ; 9 November 1850 – 8 February 1936) was an English philosopher. Early life Caldecott was born at Challoner House, Crook Street, Chester. His father, John Caldecott, was an accountant, twice married with 13 children. Caldec ...

Hertha Ayrton Phoebe Sarah Hertha Ayrton (28 April 1854 – 26 August 1923) was a British engineer, mathematician, physicist and inventor, and suffragette. Known in adult life as Hertha Ayrton, born Phoebe Sarah Marks, she was awarded the Hughes Medal by the ...

Mrs Elmy Elizabeth Clarke Wolstenholme-Elmy (died 12 March 1918) was a life-long campaigner and organiser, significant in the history of women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She wrote essays and some poetry, using the pseudonyms E and Ignota. Early ...

Hilda Brackenbury Hilda Eliza Brackenbury (born 27 April 1832 in Quebec; died 31 October 1918 in London) was a British suffragette and mother of fellow suffragettes, Georgina and Marie. Life The youngest daughter of Archibald Campbell of Quebec, in April 1854, H ...

, Princess

Sophia Duleep Singh Princess Sophia Alexandrovna Duleep Singh (8 August 1876 – 22 August 1948) was a prominent suffragette in the United Kingdom. Her father was Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, who had been taken from his kingdom of Punjab to the British Raj, a ...

, and 300 women to petition Prime Minister

Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of ...

for voting rights. The protest became known as Black Friday, due to the violence and sexual assault the protesters faced from the police and male bystanders. More than one hundred women were arrested, including Anderson, but all were released without charge. In 1912, she was imprisoned in Holloway, briefly, for her suffragette activities which included breaking a window by throwing a brick. In 1914, Anderson joined

Agnes Harben Agnes Helen Harben (née Bostock; 15 September 1879 – 29 October 1961) was a British Women's suffrage, suffragist leader who also supported the militant suffragette hunger strikers, and was a founder of the United Suffragists. Family and lif ...

and the new group of women and men: H. J. Gillespie,

Gerald Gould Gerald Gould (1885 – 2 November 1936) was an English writer, known as a journalist and reviewer, essayist and poet. Life He was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, and brought up in Norwich, and studied at University College London and Magdalen C ...

, Bessie Lansbury and

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spent ...

Mary Neal Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, Baroness Pethick-Lawrence (; 21 October 1867 – 11 March 1954) was a British women's rights activist and suffragette. Early life Pethick-Lawrence was born in Bristol as Emmeline Pethick. Her father, Henry Pethick, w ...

, Julia Scurr and John Scurr, Evelyn Sharp, and

Edith Ayrton Edith Ayrton Zangwill (1879 – 1945) was a British author and activist. She helped form the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage. Early life Ayrton was born in 1875 in Japan to the scientist William Edward Ayrton and the doctor Matilda Chaplin ...

, Louise Eates and

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

in starting the

United Suffragists The United Suffragists was a women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. History The group was founded on 6 February 1914, by former members and supporters of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). In contrast to the WSPU, it admit ...

which grew to have branches in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Medicine – World War I

When 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 ...

broke out, Anderson and

Flora Murray Flora Murray (8 May 1869 – 28 July 1923)Flora Murray
findagrave.com was a Scottish medical pioneer, ...

founded the Women's Hospital Corps (WHC), and recruited women to staff it. Believing that the British War Office would reject their offer of help, and knowing that the French were in need of medical assistance, they offered their assistance to the French Red Cross. The French accepted their offer and provided them the space of a newly built hotel in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

as their hospital. Murray was appointed ''Médecin-en-Chef'' (chief physician) and Anderson became the chief surgeon. Murray reported in her diary that visiting representatives of the British War Office were astonished to find a hospital run successfully by British women, and the hospital was soon treated as a British auxiliary hospital rather than a French one. In addition to the hospital in Paris, the Women's Hospital Corps also ran another military hospital in

Wimereux Wimereux (; vls, Wimeruwe) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Wimereux is a coastal town situated some north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the b ...

. In January 1915, casualties began to be evacuated to England for treatment. The War Office invited Murray and Anderson to return to London to run a large hospital, the Endell Street Military Hospital (ESMH), under 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 ...

. ESMH treated almost 50,000 soldiers between May 1915 and September 1919 when it closed. At Endell, Anderson and the hospital pathologist, Helen Chambers, pioneered a new method of treating septic wounds, an antiseptic ointment called BIPP (bismuth, iodoform, and paraffin paste). The paste had been invented by

James Rutherford Morison James Rutherford Morison (10 October 1853, County Durham, England – 9 January 1939, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) was a British surgeon. In 1874, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh, and as a young man was an assistant and "surgic ...

. After positive results from some initial tests by Anderson, Morison asked her and Chambers to run a larger trial of BIPP in 1916. Anderson published case studies in ''The Lancet,'' concluding that this method saved patients pain and was better than the Carrel-Dakin method, which used a more powerful antiseptic but had to be frequently reapplied to be effective. Since bandages could be left on for longer, the BIPP method reduced time spent changing bandages by as much as 80%. BIPP was widely adopted by surgeons for the rest of the war, although opinion among doctors remained divided as to the best method for wound treatment. Despite continued debate, BIPP was also used in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and continues to be in use today in ear, nose, throat, maxillofacial, and neurosurgery procedures. The Times History and Encyclopaedia of the w Wellcome L0026139

The Times History and Encyclopaedia of the w Wellcome L0026139

Awards

Murray and Anderson were both appointed to 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 ...

as Commanders (CBE) in August 1917, as part of the first group to receive the honour.

Death

Anderson died in

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 ...

and was cremated. Her ashes were scattered over the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. ...

. She is memorialised on Murray's

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

, near to their home in

Penn, Buckinghamshire Penn is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of Beaconsfield and east of High Wycombe. The parish's cover Penn village and the hamlets of Penn Street, Knotty Green, Forty Green, Penn, Forty Green and Winchm ...

. The inscription reads:

To the dear love of comrades and in memory of Flora Murray CBE, MD, BS Durham, DPH. Cambridge Daughter of Com John Murray RN Murraythwaite, Dumfriesshire Born 8 May 1869 Died 26 July 1923 She commanded the military hospital Endall Street London with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel RAMC 1915 -1919 God gave her the strength to lead, to pity and to heal And of her friend Louisa Garrett Anderson C.B.E., M.D., Chief Surgeon Women's Hospital Corps 1914–1919 Daughter of James George Skelton Anderson and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson of Aldeburgh, Suffolk. Born 28 July 1873 Died 15 November 1943 WE HAVE BEEN GLORIOUSLY HAPPY

Posthumous recognition

Anderson's name and picture (and those of 58 other women's suffrage supporters) are on the

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

of the

statue of Millicent Fawcett The statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London, honours the British suffragist leader and social campaigner Dame Millicent Fawcett. It was made in 2018 by Gillian Wearing. Following a campaign and petition by the activist Caroline C ...

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

, London, unveiled in 2018.

References

Other sources

* *

External links

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

BBC page on Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Papers of Louisa Garrett Anderson

Pictures at the National Portrait Gallery

Biog and image of her gravestone. Ian MacFarlaine

* ttp://search.wellcomelibrary.org/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1202826?lang=eng Wellcome Library – Military Hospital at Endell Street
PubMed Central – Deeds and Words in the Suffrage Military Hospital in Endell Street – including photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrettanderson, Louisa 20th-century English medical doctors English feminists English suffragists People educated at St Leonards School English women medical doctors 1873 births 1943 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of the London School of Medicine for Women British social reformers 20th-century women physicians Women's Social and Political Union LGBT feminists LGBT physicians LGBT people from England Women in medicine British women medical doctors