Dr Elsie Inglis and the Scottish Woman’s Hospital

A new maternity hospital opened in the City of Edinburgh in 1925. It was named the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in memory of a woman doctor who had died 8 years earlier. As a young doctor in the 1890s Dr Inglis had worked tirelessly to improve maternity care for the women of Edinburgh. Many a baby girl was named Elsie by her grateful parents.

The hospital closed in 1988 and, as time passes, memories of the hospital and the remarkable woman for whom it was named have started to fade. But Elsie was a woman who deserves to be remembered, not just for her determination to improve health care for women but for her mission to prove that with willpower great things can be achieved by anyone, women as well as men.

Elsie’s achievements in maternity care for the poor was remarkable but her achievements when World War one broke out were outstanding.

Famously told to ‘go home and sit still’ when she offered her services to the War Office, she did nothing of the sort. Elsie recruited 1500 doctors and nurses, all but a handful were women, to set up hospitals in the front line.

A total of 17 Scottish Women’s Hospitals were established across Corsica, France, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, plus several satellite hospitals and dressing stations. 1500 personnel, mainly women, saved thousands of soldiers’ lives, as well as treating local civilians. She returned to Britain in 1916, and immediately began raising funds for a hospital in Russia. She went to Russia later in 1916, and began her medical work in support of Serbian troops there, often having to flee advancing German forces. Elsie continued to work in Russia during 1917, but was becoming increasingly ill herself.

Elsie’s poor health meant she was forced to return to Britain and she died of cancer on 26 November 1917, a day after her ship arrived in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her body was taken to Edinburgh, where she lay in state in St Giles Cathedral.

Artist’s Response

In my peice, I tell the inspiring story of Elsie Inglis, a much beloved pioneering doctor and suffragist, whose work improved the rights and standards of care for women across the country. My ideas began to shape around the vision of healing hands, and the fact that Elsie grew up close to nature. I included the Scottish thistle and the Serbian oak, in homage to her services to both countries, and included symbols of the cycle of life, her profession and women’s suffrage. I used a multi plate approach in lino, printing in two layers to achieve depth and colour.

Seobhan Hope
Edinburgh College Of Art
www.seobhanhope.com
@seobhanhope_illustrates

Seobhan Hope is an Edinburgh based illustrator, printmaker, feminist and part-time musical acrobat. She loves the colour yellow, is happiest foraging for nettle soup, and enjoys running around barefoot. She frequently feels a lot of joy outdoors and takes inspiration from the natural world and earthy folktales from around the globe. She loves using hands-on processes such as painting and various printmaking techniques such as lino-, collograph-, riso- and screenprint, and combining them with her digital skills. Her work often links into issues around social justice, sustainability and feminism.