Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake - Tavistock Square, London, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 51° 31.468 W 000° 07.687
30U E 699219 N 5712060
This monument and bust stands in the corner of Tavistock Square.
Waymark Code: WM7PGD
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/18/2009
Views: 11
This is a monument to a very special female surgeon as described on Wikipedia:
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'Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake MS MD DBE (1865 – 1925) was one of the first British women to enter the world of medicine.
Born in Chingford, Essex, the daughter of a rector, she moved with her family to Welsh Bicknor. She graduated from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women in 1893. She went on to take the University of London's higher degrees in Medicine and Surgery, becoming the first British woman to obtain the degree of Master of Surgery. Throughout her career, Dr. Aldrich-Blake was associated with the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, becoming senior surgeon in 1910.
Career
At the Royal Free Hospital, she was the first woman to hold the post of surgical registrar and also acted as an anaesthetist. During the years of the First World War, many of the male surgical staff of the Royal Free went on foreign active service and Dr Aldrich-Blake took on increased responsibility for the surgery, becoming consulting surgeon to the hospital. She was the first to perform operations for cancers of the cervix and rectum.
Academia
Aldrich-Blake was devoted to training students of the Royal Free Hospital's School of Medicine for Women, her own alma mater. She became Dean of the School in 1914.
Damehood
In the 1924 New Year's Honours List, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Death
Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake died in 1925 from undisclosed causes.
Legacy
The Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake Collection is located in the Royal Free Hospital's Archives Centre.'