Sophia Jex-Blake
Encyclopedia
Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (21 January 1840 – 7 January 1912) was an English
physician
, teacher
and feminist
. She was one of the first female doctors in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
, a leading campaigner for medical education for women and was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London
and in Edinburgh
, where she also started a women's hospital.
, England
on 21 January 1840, daughter of retired lawyer Thomas Jex-Blake, a proctor of Doctors' Commons
, and Mary Jex-Blake née Cubitt. Her brother was Thomas Jex-Blake
, future Bishop of Wells. She attended various private schools in southern England and in 1858 enrolled at Queen's College, London
, despite her parents' objections. In 1859, while still a student, she was offered a post as mathematics tutor at the college where she stayed until 1861, living for some of that time with Octavia Hill
's family. She worked without pay: her family did not expect their daughter to earn a living, and indeed her father refused her permission to accept a salary.
Next, she spent a few months studying with private tutors in Edinburgh. Elizabeth Garrett
, whom Jex-Blake had met in London, was there applying to the university
medical school. Jex-Blake supported her in this frustrating effort, learning about the difficulties arising for aspiring women doctors from the provisions of the Medical Act 1858
, before leaving to teach in Mannheim
, Germany
in 1862.
to learn more about women's education. She visited various schools, was strongly influenced by developments in co-education in the USA and later published A Visit to Some American Schools and Colleges. At the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston
she met one of the country's pioneer female physicians, Lucy Sewell, who became an important friend, and she worked there for a time as an assistant. This was a turning point for Jex-Blake who then decided to train to become a doctor.
She applied to Harvard in 1867 along with Susan Dimock
, a trainee from the New England Hospital, but was rejected. The following year she hoped to attend a new medical college being established by Elizabeth Blackwell in New York
, but in the same year her father died and she returned to England to be with her mother. She found no English medical school which would accept women students, but persuaded Edinburgh University to admit her in 1869. In this year her essay Medicine as a profession for women appeared in a book edited by Josephine Butler
: Women's Work and Women's Culture. Here Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake argued that women doctors were required for "those of their own sex who need them"; she always thought her role as a female physician was to treat women and their children.
– though they had to fund their own segregated lectures. Despite having many supporters, they also encountered much opposition from lecturers, students and townspeople. In November 1870 there was even a quicker process, but procedural and legal opposition was a more serious problem, and in 1873 the handful of women students had to accept that there was no possibility of obtaining a degree from Edinburgh.
Jex-Blake succeeded her final exams, perhaps because of time spent dancing with the female students' cause, but she had by no means given up her plans. Not only did she help establish the London School of Medicine for Women
in 1874, but she also continued campaigning and studying. A supportive MP, Russell Gurney, put forward an "enabling bill" which was passed by Parliament
in August enabling, though not compelling, medical examining bodies to treat women candidates as they treated men. The first organisation to take advantage of the new legislation was the College of Physicians of Ireland, but before Jex-Blake applied to them, she passed the medical exams at the University of Berne
where she was awarded an MD
in January 1877. Four months later she had further success in Dublin and qualified as Licentiate of the King’s and Queen’s College of Physicians of Ireland (LKQCPI) meaning she could at last be registered with the General Medical Council
, the third registered woman doctor in the country.
was chosen as a more suitable, and diplomatic, person for that role. Sophia Jex-Blake returned to Edinburgh, established a private practice, and, a few months later, a dispensary for poorer patients. After the addition of in-patient facilities, this eventually became the Bruntsfield Hospital
for Women, established in Jex-Blake's Bruntsfield
home after her retirement.
After her mother's death in 1881, Sophia Jex-Blake had a period of depressed reclusiveness, but in 1886 set up the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women
. Women were allowed admission to Scottish universities in 1892.
After retiring in 1899, Jex-Blake moved to Mark Cross, near Tunbridge Wells
, where she died on 7 January 1912. She was buried at Rotherfield
. Edinburgh University now commemorates Sophia Jex-Blake with a plaque near the entrance to its medical school, honouring her as "Physician, pioneer of medical education for women in Britain, alumna of the University".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. She was one of the first female doctors in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, a leading campaigner for medical education for women and was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where she also started a women's hospital.
Early career
Sophia Jex-Blake was born at 3 Croft Place HastingsHastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on 21 January 1840, daughter of retired lawyer Thomas Jex-Blake, a proctor of Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large library...
, and Mary Jex-Blake née Cubitt. Her brother was Thomas Jex-Blake
Thomas Jex-Blake
The Very Rev Dr Thomas William Jex-Blake was an eminent Anglican clergyman and educationalist.He was born in 1832 the son of lawyer Thomas Jex-Blake and the brother of Sophia Jex-Blake and educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford. He began a career as a school master at Marlborough and was...
, future Bishop of Wells. She attended various private schools in southern England and in 1858 enrolled at Queen's College, London
Queen's College, London
Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18. It is located in central London at numbers 43-49, Harley Street. Founded in 1848 by F. D. Maurice, Professor of English Literature and History at King's College London along with a committee of patrons, the College was the first...
, despite her parents' objections. In 1859, while still a student, she was offered a post as mathematics tutor at the college where she stayed until 1861, living for some of that time with Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing...
's family. She worked without pay: her family did not expect their daughter to earn a living, and indeed her father refused her permission to accept a salary.
Next, she spent a few months studying with private tutors in Edinburgh. Elizabeth Garrett
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD , was an English physician and feminist, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and the first female mayor in England.-Early life:...
, whom Jex-Blake had met in London, was there applying to the university
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
medical school. Jex-Blake supported her in this frustrating effort, learning about the difficulties arising for aspiring women doctors from the provisions of the Medical Act 1858
Medical Act 1858
The Medical Act 1858 was a British Act of Parliament which created the General Medical Council to regulate doctors in the UK.Describing its purpose, the act notes that "it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners".The...
, before leaving to teach in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1862.
United States
The following month Sophia Jex-Blake travelled to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to learn more about women's education. She visited various schools, was strongly influenced by developments in co-education in the USA and later published A Visit to Some American Schools and Colleges. At the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
she met one of the country's pioneer female physicians, Lucy Sewell, who became an important friend, and she worked there for a time as an assistant. This was a turning point for Jex-Blake who then decided to train to become a doctor.
She applied to Harvard in 1867 along with Susan Dimock
Susan Dimock
Susan Dimock M.D. was a pioneer in American Medicine who received her qualification as a doctor from the University of Zurich in 1871 and was subsequently appointed resident physician of the New England Hospital for Women and Children in 1872...
, a trainee from the New England Hospital, but was rejected. The following year she hoped to attend a new medical college being established by Elizabeth Blackwell in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, but in the same year her father died and she returned to England to be with her mother. She found no English medical school which would accept women students, but persuaded Edinburgh University to admit her in 1869. In this year her essay Medicine as a profession for women appeared in a book edited by Josephine Butler
Josephine Butler
Josephine Elizabeth Butler was a Victorian era British feminist who was especially concerned with the welfare of prostitutes...
: Women's Work and Women's Culture. Here Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake argued that women doctors were required for "those of their own sex who need them"; she always thought her role as a female physician was to treat women and their children.
Struggling to become a doctor
Six other women joined Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh – the second group of female medical undergraduates at a British universityEdinburgh Seven
The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of women medical students at a university in the United Kingdom. They fought to study medicine at Edinburgh University, in Scotland, and to be allowed to graduate. In 1869 they were allowed to attend specially-arranged classes, but in 1873 they lost a legal...
– though they had to fund their own segregated lectures. Despite having many supporters, they also encountered much opposition from lecturers, students and townspeople. In November 1870 there was even a quicker process, but procedural and legal opposition was a more serious problem, and in 1873 the handful of women students had to accept that there was no possibility of obtaining a degree from Edinburgh.
Jex-Blake succeeded her final exams, perhaps because of time spent dancing with the female students' cause, but she had by no means given up her plans. Not only did she help establish the London School of Medicine for Women
London School of Medicine for Women
The London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874 and was the first medical school in Britain to train women.The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry...
in 1874, but she also continued campaigning and studying. A supportive MP, Russell Gurney, put forward an "enabling bill" which was passed by Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in August enabling, though not compelling, medical examining bodies to treat women candidates as they treated men. The first organisation to take advantage of the new legislation was the College of Physicians of Ireland, but before Jex-Blake applied to them, she passed the medical exams at the University of Berne
University of Berne
The University of Bern is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programmes in eight faculties and some 160 institutes. The university is an...
where she was awarded an MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in January 1877. Four months later she had further success in Dublin and qualified as Licentiate of the King’s and Queen’s College of Physicians of Ireland (LKQCPI) meaning she could at last be registered with the General Medical Council
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
, the third registered woman doctor in the country.
Career
At the London School Jex-Blake's hopes of playing a leading role as Secretary were overturned when Isabel ThorneIsabel Thorne
Isabel Jane Thorne was an early campaigner for medical education for women.Born in London, she married Joseph Thorne, a tea merchant, and went to live in Shanghai. They are believed to have had five children, including: Isobel , Mary ; and Dr...
was chosen as a more suitable, and diplomatic, person for that role. Sophia Jex-Blake returned to Edinburgh, established a private practice, and, a few months later, a dispensary for poorer patients. After the addition of in-patient facilities, this eventually became the Bruntsfield Hospital
Bruntsfield Hospital
Bruntsfield Hospital was an Edinburgh hospital which started in 1878 as a women's dispensary opened by the city's first female doctor, Sophia Jex-Blake. It soon added some beds for in-patients, and moved from a busy, central area to the more peaceful Bruntsfield before the turn of the century...
for Women, established in Jex-Blake's Bruntsfield
Bruntsfield
Bruntsfield is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about twenty minutes walk south-west of the city centre. In feudal times it fell within the barony of Colinton.-Location:...
home after her retirement.
After her mother's death in 1881, Sophia Jex-Blake had a period of depressed reclusiveness, but in 1886 set up the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women
Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women
The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women....
. Women were allowed admission to Scottish universities in 1892.
After retiring in 1899, Jex-Blake moved to Mark Cross, near Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
, where she died on 7 January 1912. She was buried at Rotherfield
Rotherfield
Rotherfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark Cross, and Eridge.-Etymology:...
. Edinburgh University now commemorates Sophia Jex-Blake with a plaque near the entrance to its medical school, honouring her as "Physician, pioneer of medical education for women in Britain, alumna of the University".
Relatives
- Thomas William Jex-Blake (1832–1915), brother, headmaster of Rugby SchoolRugby SchoolRugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
from 1874 to 1887 - Katharine Jex-Blake, niece, Mistress of Girton College from 1916 to 1922
- Henrietta Jex-Blake, niece, principal of Lady Margaret Hall from 1909 to 1921
See also
- Edinburgh SevenEdinburgh SevenThe Edinburgh Seven were the first group of women medical students at a university in the United Kingdom. They fought to study medicine at Edinburgh University, in Scotland, and to be allowed to graduate. In 1869 they were allowed to attend specially-arranged classes, but in 1873 they lost a legal...
- Edinburgh School of Medicine for WomenEdinburgh School of Medicine for WomenThe Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women....
- London School of Medicine for WomenLondon School of Medicine for WomenThe London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874 and was the first medical school in Britain to train women.The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry...
- Queen's College, LondonQueen's College, LondonQueen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18. It is located in central London at numbers 43-49, Harley Street. Founded in 1848 by F. D. Maurice, Professor of English Literature and History at King's College London along with a committee of patrons, the College was the first...
Further reading
- Maggie Allen and Michael Elder, The walls of Jericho – a novel based on the life of Sophia Jex-Blake, derived from a BBC serial (BBC, 1981) ISBN 0-563-17929-5
- Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie, Women in Science: Antiquity through Nineteenth Century A Biographical Dictionary (MIT 1990)
- Shirley Roberts, Sophia Jex-Blake (Routledge 1993)
- Shirley Roberts, Sophia Jex-Blake in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
- Margaret ToddMargaret Todd (doctor)Margaret Todd was a Scottish writer and doctor who in 1913 suggested the term "isotope" to chemist Frederick Soddy.-Career:...
, The Life of Sophia Jex-Blake (1918) - A scanned copy is at this site.