Women Surgeons in Britain, 1860-1918. (360G-Wellcome-096499_Z_11_Z)

This project has a dual intention. Firstly, to examine the cultural, social and self-representation of the woman surgeon from the second half of the nineteenth century until the end of the Great War; and, secondly, to investigate precisely what surgery women actually performed during this period. In doing so, I aim to bring together and expand upon work on the history of women in medicine (particularly that by Mary Ann Elston), the history of surgery (Christopher Lawrence; Peter Stanley; Sally W ilde), and feminist historical studies concerning women's place in Victorian and Edwardian society (Philippa Levine; Anne Witz), in order to offer a new perspective on the questions provoked by medical women. By utilising a wide variety of sources, including visual representations of female surgeons and a wealth of unpublished material, such as hospital records, case notes, and correspondence, I intend to provide a wide-ranging history of women surgeons and their social, political and medical im pact between 1860 and 1918.