Alice Moorhead
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dr Alice Margaret Moorhead MD LRCP LRCSE LM (Dub) (1868–23 June 1910), also known as Dr A.M. Moorhead, was one of the first practising female physicians and
surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...
s in Scotland. In the late 19th century she established a practice and hospital for women in
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
with her colleague Dr Emily Thomson.


Early life and education

Moorhead was born in
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
the daughter of Margaret Humphrys and Brigadier Surgeon George Alexander Moorhead. She was older sister of
Ethel Moorhead Ethel Agnes Mary Moorhead (28 August 18694 March 1955) was a British suffragette and Painting, painter and was the first suffragette in Scotland to be forcibly-fed. She was also a patron of ''This Quarter'', a journal published by Ernest Walsh ...
. She studied medicine at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, and attended the
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, graduating with her doctorate (MD) in July 1890.


Career

In 1894, Moorhead moved to
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, and with Dr Emily Thomson established the first all female practice in Scotland. Thomson treated the richer patients, while Moorhead, who had less need or desire for money, treated the poor. Their premises were originally at 93 Nethergate, where Moorhead lived. Around 1900 they moved the practice to 4 Tay Square where a plaque now commemorates them. In 1897, Moorhead and Thomson set up the Dundee Women's Hospital and Dispensary on Seafield Road. The hospital offered all-female staff to exclusively treat female patients. The primary focus was as to be a maternity hospital, including aftercare of mother and child.


Personal life

In 1908, aged 40, Moorhead married Dr Hamilton Graham Langwill, a physician at
Leith Hospital Leith Hospital was situated on Mill Lane in Leith, Edinburgh, and was a general hospital with adult medical and surgical wards, paediatric medical and surgical wards, a casualty department and a wide range of out-patient services. It closed in 1 ...
, and went to live with him at 4 Hermitage Place on
Leith Links Leith Links is the principal open space within Leith, the docks district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park is divided by a road into two main areas, a western section and an eastern section, both being largely flat expanses of grass bor ...
. Moorhead died in childbirth on 23 June 1910. She is buried with her parents in the
Western Cemetery, Dundee The Western Cemetery in Dundee, Scotland, is a still-operational cemetery founded in the mid 19th century. It rises northwards from the Perth Road, with terraces in its upper sections. It views over the Firth of Tay to the Tay Rail Bridge ...
. Her distinctive grave, in black polished basalt, bears a palm tree. Her daughter Margaret Moorhead Langwill studied history at the University of Edinburgh, and became an archivist. She married F. G. Emmison. Dundee Women's Hospital was absorbed by the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
in 1948 and closed in 1975.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorhead, Alice Margaret 1868 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century Scottish women medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors People from Maidstone Medical doctors from Dundee Deaths in childbirth British feminists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish women medical doctors