Isabel Thorne 1834 – 1910
(née Pryer)
Campaigner for medical education for women.
22 September 1834 – 9 October 1910
Education
Educated at Queens College, London.
1869 Studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh (was not allowed to graduate).
Worked as a governess giving lessons in arithmetic and English.
Some Key Achievements and Interests
1849-1862 Lived and travelled in China. Became convinced of the need for female doctors, especially in China and India.
1864 Took midwifery classes at the Ladies Medical College in Fitzroy Square.
Applied to join The Society of Apothecaries in Arts (after learning Elizabeth Garrett Anderson had become a registered medical practitioner). Was initially refused but then allowed to join 1868 with the help of a friend’s influence. She passed all the exams, the only woman in the Society.
Went to Edinburgh and became one of the Edinburgh Seven studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Met resistance from male students culminating in a riot at Surgeons’ Hall. The women could not find a medical board that would examine them.
Returned to London and joined Sophia Jex-Blake at the London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW).
1877-1908 Held the post of Honorary Secretary of the LSMW.
Issues
Faced constant backlash as a woman pursuing medicine, including exclusion from societies, limited educational opportunities, and opposition from fellow (especially male) students.
Not until the 1876 Medical Act in Parliament repealed the previous Medical Act in the UK could women be examined in medicine. Thorne did not qualify, committing her time to the running of the LSMW.
Connection to Bloomsbury
London School of Medicine for Women, Bloomsbury.
Female networks include
Edinburgh Seven: Edith Pechey, Emily Bovell, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson, Matilda Chaplin, Sophia Jex-Blake.
Dr Lucy Ellen Sewall, Mary Thorne.
Writing / Publications include
1905 Sketch of the Foundation and Development of the London School of Medicine for Women.
Further Reading:
Thorne, Isabel. Sketch of the Foundation and Development of the London School of Medicine for Women. (Wiley Digital Archives)
Isabel Thorne – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Thorne
Edinburgh Seven – Oxford Dictionary of National Bibliography Edinburgh Seven (act. 1869–1873) | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (oxforddnb.com)