Pioneering female doctors to be honoured

Seven pioneering female doctors were remembered yesterday at a special event on International Women’s Day.

The women – Sophia Jexblake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson and Emily Bovell – were admitted to study medicine at Edinburgh University in 1869, making them the first women to be accepted on to a degree programme at any British university.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is to unveil a plaque commemorating the achievements at a ceremony in the city.

At the time, the actions of the group known as the Edinburgh Seven were extraordinary enough to attract widespread criticism from across society, even inciting a riot on the streets of the Scottish capital.