Nov 252020
 

219 High Street, EH1 1PE

Elsie Inglis Hospice
Elsie Inglis Hospice

The Elsie Inglis Hospice was a maternity hospital originally named simply, “The Hospice.” It was created in 1904 by Dr Elsie Inglis (1864-1917) with the help of fellow medical student Dr Jessie McLaren MacGregor (1863-1906). The two women were among the first female students to attend the newly founded Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women and were both taught by its founder Dr Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912). Child mortality was a major public health concern and maternity wards were scarce. The hospice was run by an all-female staff, served the poorest women in Edinburgh’s Old Town, and was the forerunner of the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity hospital in Morningside.

Women of Achievement plaque for Elsie Inglis
Women of Achievement plaque for Elsie Inglis
The Hospice in the High Street (from Elsie Inglis by Eva Shaw McLaren, 1920)
The Hospice in the High Street (from Elsie Inglis by Eva Shaw McLaren, 1920) Image from LHSA
Portrait of Dr Elsie Inglis (Wellcome Collection)
Portrait of Dr Elsie Inglis
(Wellcome Collection)

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