Edinburgh Seven - 1869-1873

1869-1873

Although university education for British women was barely possible in 1869, Sophia Jex-Blake was granted permission to attend lectures at the Edinburgh medical school. At first, the university's governing body upheld this decision by the Dean of the Medical Faculty, but there was strong opposition, and it was later decided that there could be neither mixed classes nor individual tuition "in the interest of one lady". Jex-Blake advertised for women to join her, realising they would have to fund their own segregated tuition. The first four to respond were:

• Isabel Thorne
• Edith Pechey
• Matilda Chaplin
• Helen Evans

Thorne and Chaplin had already studied midwifery in London, while Pechey had tried to qualify with the Society of Apothecaries, but been thwarted. The five were allowed to matriculate at Edinburgh in October 1869 and begin their studies.

They soon became seven with the arrival of:

• Mary Anderson
• Emily Bovell

Doctors, professors and the public had strong feelings about the women's medical education, about whether they should be allowed practical experience in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and whether they should be eligible for degrees. The debate spilled over from the pages of The Times and The Scotsman onto the streets one November afternoon in 1870. A crowd of hundreds gathered near Surgeons' Hall where the women were to take an anatomy examination. They were heckled and had rubbish thrown at them, but Jex-Blake refused to slip away afterwards by a side door. This incident has become known as the "Surgeons' Hall Riot". Later, the Sheriff fined three "disorderly" students £1 each for "breach of the peace". Jex-Blake said the young men had been encouraged by a teaching assistant, but lost when he sued her for defamation.

Other women had joined their classes, some doctors had taught them gladly, and supporters had formed a General Committee for Securing a Complete Medical Education for Women. Yet in the end they lost the battle to graduate. In 1873 the Court of Session supported the University's right to refuse the women degrees. They also ruled, by a majority, that the women should not have been admitted in the first place. This defeat and their other struggles motivated most of them to continue, not only for personal reasons, but as part of a wider cause.