FEMALE FIRSTS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Great Scottish women throughout history

If you delve into the heritage of Scotland, it’s easy to find inspiring stories of men who have made their mark on this country.Unfortunately, there are many overlooked Scottish women who deserve equal recognition - for their words, actions, innovations or creativity.Here we take a look at some of the most remarkable women in Scotland’s history

Elsie Inglis, doctor and suffragette

Elsie Inglis was a pioneering Scottish doctor and suffragette who founded the Scottish Women’s Hospitals Unit.

After gaining her qualifications from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Edinburgh, she opened The Hospice in 1894 - a maternity hospital for the poor in Edinburgh. She also became an active suffragist.

After suggesting women doctors and nurses should be sent to the Western Front during Word War I, Inglis was initially told by the War Office ‘My good lady, go home and sit still’.

Undeterred, she raised thousands and was able to set up the Scottish Women’s Hospitals Unit, providing female-staffed medical units in France, Serbia, Romania, Russia and Corsica.

Inglis worked with her teams of nurses in Serbia and died of cancer in 1917. She is buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Seven

The ‘Edinburgh Seven’ was group of pioneering female students in Scotland that became the first in Britain to be admitted onto a university degree programme.

Sophia Jex-Blake, Isabel Thorne, Edith Pechey, Matilda Chaplin, Helen Evans, Mary Anderson and Emily Bovell - matriculated to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869.

The women’s campaign for the right to train and practice as doctors led to the Surgeons’ Hall riot, where they were verbally abused and pelted with refuse as they attempted to attend an anatomy exam.

The riot, which occurred on November 18, 1870, was a defining moment in the campaign of the Edinburgh Seven and led to increased awareness of the group, and a rise in public sympathy for the women and their fight to study medicine.

Although they were unsuccessful in their struggle to graduate and qualify as doctors, the campaign they fought gained national attention and won them many supporters including famed English naturalist Charles Darwin.

It put the rights to an equal education on the national political agenda and eventually resulted in 1877 legislation that ensured women could study at university.

Victoria Drummond, marine engineer

Victoria Drummond was born in Perthshire, in 1894, god-daughter to Queen Victoria.

Shunning her aristocrat background, Victoria became the first British woman marine engineer, and the first female member of the Institute of Marine Engineers.

She was awarded an MBE for bravery at sea during the Second World War when she single handily kept engines of the SS Bonita running while under German bombardment.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking