Nesta Helen Wells (9 July 1892 – 17 February 1986) was a British physician, and police surgeon (now known as forensic medical examiner). When she was appointed in 1927, she was the first female police surgeon in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Nesta Helen Perry was born on 9 July 1892 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

(now

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

), England to Herbert Edward Perry, and Edith Grafton Hopkins. Her father was a mineral water manufacturer, and later became a Unitarian minister. She studied medicine at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, graduating in 1916. After graduating, she worked as a house officer at

Nottingham General Hospital Nottingham General Hospital was a major hospital in Nottingham, England. It was founded in 1781 and closed in 1992. History The hospital was the result of a legacy from John Key, a wealthy banker, who had left money in his will for hospitals t ...

Career

She returned to Manchester and worked in a number of local hospitals including Pendlebury Children's Hospital, Beckett Hospital in Barnsley, and the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

's maternity hospital, Crossley Hospital. She later worked at the Manchester Babies' Hospital (renamed in 1935 as Duchess of York Hospital for Babies) as an honorary registrar. Founded in 1914 by

Catherine Chisholm Catherine Chisholm (2 January 1878 – 21 July 1952) was a British physician and the first female medical graduate of the University of Manchester. She was instrumental in founding the Manchester Babies Hospital, which was opened on 4 August ...

, the hospital's doctors were all women. Perry later became an honorary physician at the hospital. She was an early member of 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 ...

, which was founded in 1917. During the 1920s to 1940s, the organisation campaigned for the introduction of women as police surgeons to examine victims of sexual assault. Manchester City councillor Annie Lee joined the Watch Committee who oversaw the

Manchester City Police The Manchester City Police (also known as the Metropolitan Manchester City Police and from 1842 to 1853 the Manchester Borough Police) was, from the early 19th century until 1968, the territorial police force of the city of Manchester, in northern ...

, and in 1927 convinced the committee to appoint a woman police surgeon specifically to examine women and children. On 1 August, Wells was appointed to the role, the first in the United Kingdom. Her part-time role primarily involved the examination of women and children who had been suspected of being victims of sexual assault, rape, and incest. However, she was also responsible for the health of the city's women police officers. Wells also continued to campaign for more female police surgeons and police officers. She retired in 1954. In 1958, Wells published a survey in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' of 1,959 suspected sexual offence cases which had been referred to her. In a significant majority of the cases, the victims were under the age of 16.

Personal life

She married Lionel Wraith Wells in 1923. He was a mechanical engineer. They had two daughters. Wells died on 17 February 1986 in the village of

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a large village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Until 1974 the parish was known as Church Hulme. Holmes Chapel is about north of Crewe and south ...

, Cheshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Nesta

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

1892 births 1986 deaths English women medical doctors Alumni of the University of Manchester People from Wolverhampton 20th-century English women 20th-century English people