The Edinburgh Seven

The Edinburgh Seven consisted of Mary Anderson, Emily Bovell, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Sophia Jex-Blake, Edith Pechey and Isabel Thorne.

Together, they overcame social hostility and institutional discrimination to become the first women to study medicine in Britain, paving the way for subsequent generations of female doctors. Jex-Blake was the initiator. At the age of 21, she had moved to the USA, where some universities were already teaching men and women in the same classes. Inspired, she decided to pursue a career as a doctor when she returned to Britain.

Scottish universities had a reputation for being comparatively progressive, so in 1869 she applied to the University of Edinburgh. She was accepted by the medical faculty but rejected by the university court, who argued that they could not make the necessary arrangements ‘in the interest of one lady’. In response, Jex-Blake placed adverts in national newspapers asking for other women to join her. Six women came forward and they applied as a group.

This joint application was approved, and the University of Edinburgh became the first British university to admit women. Discrimination continued, however: due to sit an anatomy exam at Surgeons’ Hall in 1870, the women found their entrance blocked by several hundred students. They managed to make their way inside but protests from male students continued including releasing a live sheep into the hall to disturb them.

Subsequently, the University refused to allow the women to graduate so five of the seven went to Europe to complete their degrees. It wasn’t until 1892 that Scottish universities would again admit female undergraduates, 15 years after this was allowed in England. Undeterred, Jex-Blake returned to Edinburgh where in June 1878, at 4 Manor Place, she began work as Edinburgh’s first woman doctor.