Scharlieb , Dame , Mary Anne Dacomb , 1845-1930 , surgeon Scharlieb , Herbert J , 1868-1943 ,

Mary Ann Dacomb Scharlieb (née Bird) was one of the first generation of British women doctors, from the first class of students at the London School of Medicine for Women. She was at that time already married and a mother, her husband being a barrister in Madras. Scharlieb's initial aim in acquiring a medical education (she had already obtained medical qualification at the Madras Medical School) was in order to alleviate the sufferings of purdah women in India who could not be treated by male doctors, by bringing them the benefits of modern western medicine in place of native midwives. Returning to London in 1887 on health grounds, she had a long and distinguished career, recognised as being an accomplished gynaecological surgeon, and took part in public life: for example, she sat on the Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases 1913-1916 and was a pillar of the Social Purity movement. Her son Herbert also became a doctor, specialising in anaesthesia.