I’ve been waiting about 8 years to find the opportunity to write this post, and I’ve decided that Women’s History Month (March), and as we head towards International Women’s Day (8th March 2022), seems as good a time as any to try and describe the life of Gertrude Mary Hutton.
Gertrude Mary Hutton was born on 4th September 1873 in Benares, India, a city now called Varanasi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Her father was Reverend David Hutton, who was a missionary in India, and her mother was Margaret. Rev’d David was part of the London Mission, and began his calling in India in 1865.
1865 was also the year that Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first woman to openly qualify as a medic in Britain. Having gained a certificate in anatomy and physiology through private means, this allowed her entrance to the Society of Apothecaries, through which she took her final exam in 1865, and thus obtained a licence from that Society to practice medicine. The route that she had taken took advantage of a loophole in the admissions policy, which was very quickly closed after her success, in order to bar other women from entry to the profession.
In the late 1860s, Sophia Jex-Blake, who wanted to be a doctor, when women were expected to run the home, was initially approved for entry to Edinburgh to study medicine, but was ultimately rejected. As a consequence of this rejection she called upon other women who also desired to study medicine to begin a campaign which resulted in the formation of what was known as the Edinburgh Seven, leading to the Edinburgh University Surgeon’s Hall riot of 1870.
Although the women in question were then able to study at Edinburgh, the university did not allow them to sit the exams, and therefore they were unable to graduate. Jex-Blake eventually received her degree from Berne, Switzerland, and many of her colleagues also graduated from Europe. Jex-Blake went on to set up the London School of Medicine for Women, and sat exams with the College of Physicians in Dublin, before returning to Edinburgh as Scotland’s first practising female doctor, where she founded the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women and the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children, in 1885.
So, by the time Gertrude Mary Hutton was born in 1873, medical education for women was still in its infancy. The 1881 census records the 7-year-old Gertrude as being at 48 Dalhousie Street, Glasgow, the home of her grandparents, William (a photographer) and Catherine Johnson. Edith aged 5, listed as a granddaughter is Gertrude’s sister, and the two older girls, Katey aged 11, and Ethel aged 10, both born in India, are also listed as granddaughters, so I am assuming they are also Gertrude’s sisters. I am less convinced that the Margaret Johnson, aged 32 listed as the daughter of William and Catherine Johnson is actually the mother to the Hutton children. Father, David, does not appear with the family on this census.
It is clear that Gertrude had a strong interest in medicine as in 1886 the ‘Perthshire Constitutional & Journal’ 12th April 1886 reports on success in ambulance classes that have taken place in Crieff. Dr John Brodie, the examiner, reported that of the 51 ladies who took the exams of the St Andrews Ambulance Association, 51 passed. He deemed it was clear they had been well-instructed in theory and practice, had done intelligent demonstrations, and answered questions about treatment very thoroughly. He was also struck by their earnestness and proficiency. Of the 51 passes obtained, 34 were with honours, being awarded above 80 marks out of 100. Miss Gertrude Hutton was listed as one of those who passed with honours.
The 1891 census lists David Hutton as the head of the household, and a missionary in Benares, India, who is currently on furlough. This was quite a common situation for missionaries, who would often spend about 4-5 years away from home, and then 12-15 months at home, when they would attend public meetings and report back on their work, as well as raise money for their cause. Having previously said that I was unsure about Margaret Johnson, the 1891 census also lists David’s wife as Margaret, but as Margaret Hutton. Gertrude is now 17, and Edith now 15, and younger siblings Dora (13), Harold (11), Bertha (9), and David (7) are also on this census return, the family being at 7 Alvanley Terrace, Edinburgh.
By 1893 Gertrude has entered the Edinburgh School of Medicine, Medical College for Women. In the summer of that year she gains a second-class honours in the ‘class of physics’, and in the winter term was a prize-winner in the study of chemistry, having achieved 85 percent. The following winter term Gertrude achieved first-class honours in the ‘class of pathology’ with 78 percent. Summer exams in 1896 in the ‘class of ophthalmology’ yielded second-class honours for Gertrude, and in general pathology she achieved 93 percent. Finally, in July 1898, Gertrude has completed her five-year course, which culminated in the triple qualification of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh (Lic. R. Coll. Phys. Edin.), Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh (Lic. R. Coll. Surg. Edin.), and Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow (Lic. Fac. Phys. Surg. Glasg.).
Meanwhile, over in Loughborough, in 1889, new premises were built on Fennel Street for the Medical Aid Association, this being Unity House. The building was designed by local architect Wille Thomas Hampton, who around the time was living and working from a property in Swan Street, having recently moved from Pinfold Street. At the time of construction of the building, the doctor for the association was Dr Thomas Corcoran, and the junior surgeon was Dr Joseph. By 1899, the position occupied by Dr Corcoran had been taken by Dr Charles Symington.
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| Unity House in 2014 |
‘The Medical Directory for 1900’, in the ‘Provincial Medical Directory’ section lists twelve doctors in Loughborough at that time, all male, except one:
N.B. McI. Blackham; T. Corcoran; A.B.J. Eddowes; J.H. Eddowes; Gertrude M. Hutton; J. McLaws: A.E. Palmer; R. Paul; P. Phelps; J.B. Pike; C. Symington, and J.A. Unitt
The address given for Gertrude Hutton is 20 Fennel Street, Loughborough. The numbering on Fennel Street is not the same today as it was in 1900, so, the building to the left of Unity House as you look across from Biggin Street today is numbered 20, but at the time Gertrude was living on Fennel Street, it was Unity House that carried the number 20, and thus was where she was staying. Today, Unity House is number 21, having been re-numbered before 1913.
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| Fennel Street Club is no.20 Fennel Street, next to Unity House (2022) |
In his Medical Officer’s report to the committee of the Medical Aid Association, of 1899, published in 1900, Dr Symington talks about, amongst other things, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and births. He acknowledges the help he has received from Dr McLaws, and Mr A. Harding. He also writes:
"Dr Gertrude Hutton has already proved herself to be a very capable and energetic colleague. Dr Hutton’s services are well received by her patients, and, I prognosticate an increase to the Association from family members.” the latter presumably as a direct result of Gertrude’s influence.
The 1901 census records 26-year-old Gertrude, a medical practitioner, as lodging at 104 Park Road, with Arthur Harding, a "commercial traveller drugs" - whom we know from Dr Symington's report of 1899, was the Secretary to the Medical Aid Association - Arthur’s wife, Adeline, daughter Rosalie, and son John.
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| The Park Road property (2022) |
So, it’s likely that Gertrude’s first professional role was in Loughborough, and that she was Loughborough’s first woman doctor. Sadly, I have been able to find little about her time in Loughborough, and have not been able to establish exactly when she left, but I do know that by 1905 she had moved to Liverpool, where she lived and worked for the rest of her life.
On 10th January 1940 Gertrude Mary Hutton died. At the time, she was living at 1 Elm Bank, Anfield, Liverpool, the same house that she had moved to when she left Loughborough. Her death certificate states she was aged 66 and a doctor of medicine. The funeral took place at 12 noon on Saturday 13 January 1940, at Anfield cemetery , where she was buried in a purchased plot, section 7, grave number 478, in the Church of England area. The burial ceremony was performed by A.J.A. Medhurst.
It is in the
obituaries and tributes, that more is revealed about Gertrude’s career in
Liverpool.
On 25th January 1940, the ‘Liverpool Echo’ carried the following obituary:
“TRIBUTE TO
WOMAN DOCTOR’S WORK
Appreciative
reference to the work of Dr. Gertrude Hutton, senior medical officer at the
Dispensary for Women and Children, Netherfield Road, Liverpool, who died some
days ago, was made by Dr. Margaret Joyce at a meeting of the committee.
She mentioned that Dr Hutton came to Liverpool from Edinburgh to carry on the work of the dispensary when it was one of the activities of the Victoria Settlement and had continued since, in 1908, the work was taken under new management. For thirty-two years many thousands of women had placed themselves and their children under the care of Dr. Hutton as senior medical officer, and never failed to receive her utmost skill and attention. She was a brilliant diagnostician and a clever physician.”
On 6th September 1940, some 9 months after Gertrude’s death, the ‘Liverpool Daily Post’ carried the following article, in which a tribute was paid to Dr. Gertrude Hutton:
“DISPENSARY
FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN:
WAR-TIME WORK UNDER DIFFICULTIES
Mrs. E.W.
Hope, presiding at the annual meeting yesterday of the Dispensary for Women and
Children, Netherfield Road, said the year had been a very difficult one for the
dispensary but its workers had coped efficiently with the altered conditions.
The black-out necessitated the closing of the dispensary in the evenings during the winter months and this, coupled with the evacuation scheme and the severe weather, resulted in a serious reduction in attendances. Largely owing to the efforts of Dr. Lilian Hughes, senior medical officer and the “life and soul” of the place, there had been a gratifying improvement in the last few months and the attendances were now about two-thirds of normal. Mrs. Hope paid a tribute to Dr. Gertrude Hutton, who died in January after thirty-two years’ devoted and skilful service as senior medical officer.”
Another obituary from Margaret Joyce reads as follows:
“Dr Hutton came to Liverpool to take charge of the Dispensary for Women and Children, at that time one of the activities of the Victoria Women’s Settlement, but which in 1908 was taken over by a Committee of Liverpool women who were fortunate in securing the continuation of Dr Hutton’s services. Notwithstanding the acquirement of considerable private practice, Dr Hutton has ever since that date devoted a large part of her time and energy to the Dispensary, and many thousands of women and children, living in one of the poorest parts of Liverpool, have passed through her hands. She was a brilliant diagnostician and a sound physician. Not only was her medical skill at the services of these women, but her kindly and shrewd advice was sought by them in every difficulty or crisis occurring in their lives. Her place will indeed be hard to fill. Her courage kept her at her post until within a few days of her death, though fighting against a mortal illness. Much sympathy is felt with her surviving brother and sisters, and with the close friend who shared her home and helped her much in her work.”
Gertrude’s home on Elm Bank was a couple of doors down from the house in which her close friend, Mary Jane Loheide had been brought up. Mary Jane became a nurse and, as the above obituary reads, helped Gertrude in her work. After Gertrude’s death, probate was granted to Mary Jane on 14th March 1940, and the effects amounted to £1,863 2s. 7d.. By 1945, Mary Jane had moved from Elm Bank to a house called Loretto on Sandfield Park East, in Liverpool, and by the time of her death on 2nd August 1952, she was living at Westminster House on Westminster Road, Liverpool. Probate was granted on 2nd October 1952 to her solicitor, and her effects amounted to £1,127 18s. 6d.
The inscription on the grave reads:
In loving
memory of
Dr. Gertrude
Mary HUTTON M.D.
died 10th
Jan. 1940.
The dear
daughter of the late Rev. D. HUTTON,
and devoted
friend of Molly.
Also of
Mary Jane
LOHEIDE,
companion of
the above,
who died on
the 2nd August 1952.
“Safe in
God’s keeping.”
__________________________
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:
Lynne
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