“Everything was wanting except the patients.” That’s how the British female doctor Mary Edith Pechey described the life and development of medicine in the United Kingdom. She was a famous member of the Edinburgh Seven, who, along with other brave young women, fought for the right to study and become a doctor. Learn more at leedska.
Mary Edith Pechey became one of the university’s first female students and the third one to practise as a registered female doctor in Great Britain. In addition, she belonged to that group of brave women who dared to challenge the system of that time. They united and protested in front of a medical school so that women could gain access to university education. The determined activists eventually won a long and bitter battle to obtain medical qualifications and permission to practise. The University of Edinburgh granted women access to study in 1869.
Edith Pechey lived and worked in Leeds for several years. She became the first female doctor to establish a free laboratory with all-female employees in Holbeck. Her activities played a significant role in the formation of the medical system in Leeds.
Childhood and education
Mary Edith Pechey was born in the small village of Langham, Essex, in 1845. She was the sixth child in the family of William Pechey and his wife Sarah. The father was a Baptist Minister who had a master’s degree in theology from the University of Edinburgh. Her mother Sarah was the daughter of a lawyer and studied Greek. It was quite unusual for women of that time because most of them were illiterate. William Pechey’s stipend was the family’s only income. That money was enough to survive but no more.
Edith inherited her love of learning from her parents. The children of the Pechey family were educated at home. In her letters, which were preserved in the archives, Edith mentioned that as a child she was interested in science as well as exploring butterflies, beetles and botany in the vicinity of the village. At a young age, her two brothers emigrated to their uncle in Australia, where they worked as land surveyors. The girls of the Pechey family didn’t have a lot of options in terms of their activity. After all, most of the middle-class women earned a living by privately tutoring children of wealthy residents or working in schools.
Therefore, at first, Edith Pechey was a teacher in Leeds. However, she wanted to study and practice medicine. In particular, she was interested in everything related to women’s health. At that time, many women died during childbirth and infant mortality was common. The reason was the lack of medical training of midwives, as medicine was exclusively a male prerogative.
First trip to Leeds and the Ladies Educational Association
At the age of 18, young Edith found herself in the big city of Leeds for the first time. The young girl was impressed by the beauty of the buildings, the noise of large industrial enterprises and the crowds of people. At first, she even got lost in the serpentines of dirty streets, which clearly traced the line between the poor and the rich. For several years, Edith taught at school and then worked as a governess in quite wealthy families. The middle class introduced and exploited new opportunities in engineering and science. Sons of merchants and mill owners in northern cities were especially successful in this. Consequently, women and members of the working class didn’t have access to education and better jobs.
Thus, the only option for women who wanted to work and earn money was teaching young children, especially girls. However, there were proactive female teachers who believed that they also deserved training and official confirmation of their professional qualifications. They formed an agitation group and organised a conference on women’s education in Manchester in October 1867. Women from Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield were invited to the meeting. Supporters of the initiative agreed to create a Ladies Educational Association in several cities of the United Kingdom.
Twelve educational associations started their activities that year. They organised lectures on the main subjects that were important for admission to universities. The first such lecture was held in Leeds. Some biographers note that it was at this meeting that Edith Pechey met Josephine Butler, the President of the North of England Council. In addition, Josephine Butler actively supported the campaign for the future of female doctors.
Taboo for women to enter medical educational institutions
Subsequently, ideological groups of reformers started to appear in society and began to actively defend the opinion that female doctors were extremely necessary for the population. After all, many women in difficult life conditions still refused to discuss their intimate troubles with a male doctor. In addition, obstetrics and gynaecology remained an optional rather than a compulsory subject for medical students.
At that time, it was common to consider women much weaker physically and mentally than men. A typical model of the 19th-century woman was uneducated, silent and passive in making important decisions. Men insisted that no woman could be entrusted with responsible work and use funds at her discretion.
The Edinburgh Seven and Edith’s lost scholarship
Sophia Jex-Blake was the first to defend her right to study at medical universities. The reason for this dissatisfaction was the rejection of her application to study at the University of Edinburgh. Determined Sophia Jex-Blake wrote an advert in the British liberal newspaper The Scotsman, calling for a protest from other women who were willing to fight for the right to gain the qualification.
Edith Pechey joined the initiative group in 1869. Young women have applied for admission to the prestigious School of Medicine in Edinburgh, successfully passing the entrance exams. A small group of female students studied there separately from the men but at a much higher fee. In order to pay for her studies, Edith had to give lectures for women in physiology in Leeds.
Female students achieved excellent academic results but endured insults and constant harassment from male students. At the end of the first semester, Edith received the highest marks in chemistry, which entitled her to The Hope Scholarship of £50 and free use of the university’s laboratory.
Edith was denied the award by one vote because she was a woman. Two professors flatly refused to teach women anatomy. Some even argued that medical education for women would be the bane of civilization. That injustice caused heated confrontations in Edinburgh. The story was quickly picked up by the national press.
Despite the fact that the women successfully graduated, they didn’t receive diplomas. Even lawsuits against the university didn’t help to achieve justice. In 1877, Edith earned her MD from the University of Bern in Switzerland, taking her exams in German. She also obtained additional qualifications in Dublin.
Medical practice in Leeds
Edith started her medical practice in Leeds. There, Edith was already well-known thanks to her lectures and had support among influential wealthy women. Edith Pechey was the only female doctor in Northern England.
Women & Children’s Hospital refused Edith a job and didn’t accept patients sent by her for treatment. However, it didn’t stop the doctor. She created her consulting rooms in the centre of Leeds. In 1881, Edith founded a Dispensary for Women & Children in one of the poorest slums areas of Leeds, Holbeck. It was funded by donations and staffed exclusively by women.
In addition, she helped the Yorkshire Ladies Council to establish a Trained Nurses Institute in Leeds. The extra money the nurses received as a bonus allowed them to work for free in the poorest areas of the city. Edith Pechey continued to lecture extensively throughout Yorkshire, often giving free consultations to working-class women. Nurses from the Institute and other local hospitals had free entry to the lectures of the famous doctor Edith Pechey.
In 1882, she was elected President of the Medical Women’s Federation of England.
A year later, Edith Pechey headed a new hospital and dispensary in India. She gave up her job in Leeds to her doctor colleague and started the main activity of her life. Despite all the obstacles, she managed to establish hospitals and allow medical education for women. She also resolutely opposed the widespread trend of early marriages.
Edith also kept in touch with friends in Leeds. In 1907, she represented the Leeds Society at the first mass procession for women’s suffrage. Edith Pechey died of breast cancer and diabetes at the age of 67.
In July 2021, a plaque in her honour was unveiled at the site of Edith’s first consulting rooms in Leeds Park Square.