Blake , Louisa Brandreth , Aldrich- , 1865-1925 x Aldrich-Blake

Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake was born in 1865, the daughter of the rector of Chingford. From an early age, she showed a natural gift for healing; when eight years old she organised an animal hospital and friends brought their sick and wounded pets for Louisa's attention. Her family was well-connected and she need not have worked for a living, but she decided to enter the demanding world of medicine. Graduating from the London 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 woman to obtain the degree of Master of Surgery. Throughout her career, Louisa Aldrich-Blake was associated with the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital, becoming surgeon in 1910. 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 Louisa took increased responsibility for the surgery, becoming consulting surgeon to the hospital. Louisa was a bold, meticulous and very successful surgeon, with great management and diagnostic skill. She was the first in Britain to perform operations for cancer of the cervix and rectum. Louisa Aldrich-Blake became Dean of the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women in 1914, and exercised an important influence on generations of women medical students. The climax of her career came in 1924 when, in the jubilee year of the medical school, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died in 1925 and is remembered as a brilliant surgeon and wise administrator.