Agnes Forbes Blackadder

Agnes Forbes Blackadder Savill (4 December 1875 – 12 May 1964) was a Scottish medical doctor.[1] Blackadder became the first female graduate of the University of St Andrews when she gained her M.A. degree on 29 March 1895.[2] She was the first consultant dermatologist to be appointed in 1907 at St. John's Hospital, an appointment which was also notable as one of the first appointments of a woman consultant at a hospital that was not exclusively for women.[3] During World War I, she served as a radiographer at the Scottish Women's Hospital at Royaumont in France and pioneered radiography of gangrene.[1]

Agnes Forbes Blackadder
Born4 December 1875
Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland
Died12 May 1964(1964-05-12) (aged 88)
London, England
NationalityScottish
Alma materUniversity of St Andrews, University of Glasgow
AwardsFellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine (Dermatology, Radiography)

Early life

Agnes Blackadder was born in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, on 4 December 1875, the daughter of Robert Blackadder, a Dundee architect and engineer. She spent most of her early life around Dundee, living in Bellevue, West Ferry and attending the High School of Dundee.[1][4]

Blackadder gained her M.A. degree from the University of St Andrews in 1895,  becoming the first female graduate of the university. She continued her education at the University of Glasgow where she gained both MBChb (1898) and M.D. (1901).[2][5][6] Whilst in Glasgow, she won the first prize in Practical Pathology in 1896 and received First Class Certificates in Materia Medica, Surgery, Midwifery, Ophthalmology and Insanity and a Second Class Certificate in Anatomy.[1] After graduating, she married Dr. Thomas Dixon Savill at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Forfarshire in 1901.[1]

Career

After graduation, Blackadder moved to London, where she became a consultant in dermatology and electro-therapeutics as well as working in radiography. She became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1904 and was appointed as a consultant for St. John's Hospital for Skin Diseases and the South London Hospital for Women and Children.[1]

In 1912 Blackadder was one of three doctors who studied the effects of force-feeding on suffragists who went on hunger strikes during their imprisonment, and published medical papers on the subject.[7]

During World War I, Blackadder served as a radiographer at the Scottish Women's Hospital at Royaumont, France, returning to her position in London whenever there was a lull in the fighting.[2] She used a state-of-the-art X-ray car which the hospital had been given, and used this to understand and alleviate the effects of gas gangrene through prompt diagnosis and treatment.[1]

While serving at Royaumont, Blackadder borrowed a pianola from Paris and installed it at the hospital. She noticed that both patients and staff benefited from playing it and listening to it and she later wrote a book about the importance of music to well-being. The book, Music, Health and Character, was published in 1923. It led to the establishment of the Council for Music in Hospitals.[1]

After the war, Blackadder returned to London and continued to practice medicine. She edited her husband's textbook, Savill's System of Clinical Medicine, which she completed in 1942. She also became interested in ancient history and in 1955 she published Alexander the Great and his Times.[1]

Legacy

Blackadder died in London on 12 May 1964.[1] In 2012 students of the University of St Andrews voted to honour Blackadder by renaming the university's largest hall of residence Agnes Blackadder Hall. The hall is the first student hall at St Andrews to be named after a woman.[8]

References
  1. "Agnes Forbes Blackadder". The University of Glasgow Story. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. St Andrews Special Collections (7 March 2017). "Trailblazing Women at the University of St Andrews: A Celebration for International Women's Day". Echoes from the Vault. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. "2012 | University of St Andrews". web.archive.org. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  4. "Library | University of St Andrews". web.archive.org. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  5. St Andrews Special Collections (25 July 2012). "Genealogical research on the Valentine family reveals confirmed portrait of Agnes Forbes Blackadder Savill". Echoes from the Vault. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  6. "Biographical Register 1747-1897". arts.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  7. Nelson (29 January 2013). "Doctor Agnes Forbes Blackadder-Savill". A tribute to some women and men who served in armed conflicts. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  8. "2012 | University of St Andrews". web.archive.org. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2019.


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