Plaque for Sophia Jex-Blake

 History of Public Health  No Responses »
Nov 252020
 

St Giles’ Cathedral, High St, EH1 1RE

Plaque in St. Giles Cathedral
Plaque in St. Giles Cathedral

Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912) became Scotland’s first female doctor when she established a private practice in Edinburgh in September 1878 at 73 Grove Street. In 1885, she opened the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children, just a few doors down from her private practice. It was a so-called cottage hospital, a small hospital (6 beds) intended to cater for the immediate needs of the local poor population without requiring them to travel long distances.

Sophia Jex-Blake. Creator: unknown. © The University of Edinburgh
Sophia Jex-Blake. Creator: unknown.
© The University of Edinburgh
Sophia Jex-Blake. Photograph by Swaine. (Wellcome Collection).
Sophia Jex-Blake. Photograph by Swaine.
(Wellcome Collection).

Find out more

Elsie Inglis Hospice

 History of Public Health  1 Response »
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)

Find out more

Site of Edinburgh University Settlement

 History of Charity and Civic Action  No Responses »
Apr 032019
 

High School Yards today

High School Yards, Edinburgh EH1 1LZ

The Edinburgh University Settlement (EUS) was established by the University of Edinburgh on this site in 1905. The founding was part of a larger settlement movement in the UK and US, in which ‘settlement houses’ were established in poorer areas where middle-class volunteers would live and attempt to improve the lives of locals. Professor Richard Lodge, one of the founding members of EUS, remarked that Edinburgh was ‘a fair city but it had some foul spots on it, and if the members of the University could do anything to brighten the lives and bring sympathy and gladness into some of the homes in these darker spots, they would be doing something to repay the debt which the town’s college owed to city.’ Both students and staff of the University lived and worked in the EUS, where they undertook a range of educational and outreach initiatives, including founding Scotland’s first school of art therapy, one of the first ever thrift shops, computer skills training, women’s education, and community volunteering. The Edinburgh University Settlement closed in 2010 due to severe financial difficulties but many of their projects have managed to continue after finding alternative sponsorship.

High School Yards today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credits: Ema Smekalova, Lucy Ridley