Catherine Arnott (1858–1942) was a British medical doctor and

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. She worked as a hospital medical officer in both England and India and later became an expert on the treatment of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

Early life

Arnott was born in 1858 at

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old -Agra Mumbai Road. It is the birthplace of Babasaheb B. R. Ambedkar . ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, where her father was a surgeon. Her parents were Dr. Francis Shortt Arnott and Ann Arnott ().

Medical career

Arnott was educated at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

’s School of Medicine for Women, but, as this institution was not permitted to award degrees to women, in 1893 she sat her exams through the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

. In 1894, she was appointed assistant Medical Officer at the Lancaster County Lunatic Asylum, Lancashire. By the following year she had been promoted to resident Medical Officer. In 1896, she returned to British India. She was firstly employed at Mure Memorial Hospital, then became the medical officer at the

Lady Dufferin Hospital Lady Dufferin Hospital is a private women's hospital located in Karachi, Sindh. Donations Seth Edulji Dinshaw contributed a sum of Rs. 50,000/- for its establishment in 1898, which may be equal to $2 million-$3 million today. Jehangir Framroze ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. Between 1901 and 1904 she was in charge of the Jaswant Hospital for Women,

Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...

. Later in her career, she returned to England and worked treating infectious diseases in London and as a doctor in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. She then settled in West Yorkshire to run the Eastby Sanatorium in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

as its Chief Medical Officer, staying to run it for many years. She became known as an expert in treating

Activism

Arnott was a suffragette. In 1913, she served as the Press and Honorary Secretary of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)'s branch in Coventry. She delivered speeches at the market square, arguing that "women did not want the vote for the pleasure and excitement of going to the polling booth once every five years; they wanted it to ameliorate the conditions of men, women and children." She left Coventry's WSPU when she moved to Eastby. Arnott's sister Harriet Collington was also active in the women's enfranchisement campaign.

Death

Arnott died in 1942 and was buried in

Ecclefechan Ecclefechan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Eaglais Fheichein'') is a village located in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. The village is famous for being the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle. Ecclefechan lies in the valley of the Mein Water, a ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

, Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnott Catherine 1858 births 1942 deaths British suffragettes Women's Social and Political Union 19th-century British women medical doctors People from British India Activists from Coventry People from Mhow