Octavia Wilberforce (1888–1963) was an English physician who made a medical career despite opposition from her parents, with support from

Elizabeth Robins Elizabeth Robins (August 6, 1862 – May 8, 1952) was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette. She also wrote as C. E. Raimond. Early life Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, was born in Louisville, ...

. She was in general practice 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 ran a women's shelter near

Henfield Henfield is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, northwest of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester at the road junction of the A281 and A2037. Th ...

. She treated

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

's mental illness in the final years of Woolf's life. She was also friends with multiple members of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

Life

Octavia Margaret Wilberforce was the daughter and eighth child of Reginald Garton Wilberforce (1838–1914), son of

Samuel Wilberforce Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.Natural Hi ...

, and his wife, Anna Maria Denman (died 1938), daughter of Richard Denman; her great-grandfather was

Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, (23 July 177926 September 1854) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He served as Lord Chief Justice between 1832 and 1850. Background and education Denman was born in London, the son of Dr Thomas Den ...

and her paternal great-grandfather was

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

. She was born at Lavington House,

Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, and had little format education. She came out as a

débutante A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...

in 1907. Wilberforce met Elizabeth Robins in 1909. In 1910 she took one of the family's maids to hospital, and met

Louisa Martindale Louisa Martindale, (30 October 1872 – 5 February 1966) was an English physician, surgeon, and writer. She also served as magistrate on the Brighton bench, was a prison commissioner and a member of the National Council of Women. She served ...

, an influential contact. Her parents planned for her to marry Charles Buxton, son of

Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, (25 October 1853 – 15 October 1934) was a radical British Liberal politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also served as the second Governor-General of South Africa from 1914 to 1920 ...

, but the match was against her wishes and she refused him. Instead, she entered 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 ...

in 1913, beginning seven years of study and qualifying in 1920. With her father refusing her financial support and disinheriting her, Wilberforce relied mainly on Robins and Lord Buxton. Upon qualifying, she worked as house physician to Wilfred Harris at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...

. From 1923 Wilberforce was in general practice in Brighton, retiring in 1954. Robins met Leonard and Virginia Woolf in 1928, at the award ceremony for the Femina - Vie Heureuse Prize; she had known

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Life Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellectua ...

, Virginia's father. The Woolfs came to know Wilberforce, who lived with Robins in Brighton, on a social basis at this point. A social call for tea by Wilberforce to the Woolfs at

Monk's House Monk's House is a 16th-century weatherboarded cottage in the village of Rodmell, three miles (4.8 km) south of Lewes, East Sussex, England. The writer Virginia Woolf and her husband, the political activist, journalist and editor Leonard ...

Rodmell Rodmell is a small village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles (4.8 km) south-west of Lewes, on the Lewes to Newhaven road and six and a half miles from the City of Brighton & Hove and ...

on 9 December 1940 became a consultation when Leonard Woolf involved Wilberforce in her professional capacity. Wilberforce subsequently advised Virginia on the lines of her treatment of exhausted women at Backsettown, a farmhouse belonging to Robins. On 27 March 1941 Leonard drove Virginia to consult Wilberforce in Brighton; she advised complete rest on the basis of a physical examination. Virginia Woolf committed suicide the following day. Octavia Wilberforce died on 19 December 1963.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilberforce, Octavia 1888 births 1963 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors English women medical doctors People involved with mental health Octavia 20th-century women physicians Virginia Woolf People from Henfield Medical doctors from Brighton 20th-century English women 20th-century English people