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Volume 4 | Issue 4 - Forgotten People
Article by Rhiannon Pickin. Edited and Researched by Mike Edwardson.
In the later part of last century there has been a celebration of remarkable women in the history of medical practice, yet Frances Elizabeth Hoggan may not be known to a lot of people. In Zurich University however she is still is still known to this day as the first British woman physician and second woman in Europe to graduate with a medical degree from a European University.
Frances was born in Brecon on 20th December 1843 to Richard, a curate of St Johns Priory, and Georgiana Morgan. When she was three years old her family moved to Glamorgan, South Wales, where she was brought up and educated in Cowbridge before moving to Windsor to continue her education. During her teens she also gave birth to an illegitimate daughter yet despite the stigma associated with young unwed pregnant women during this period her mother brought the baby up and passed her off as her daughter and Frances’ sister.
In her early 20s Frances travelled to Europe to study in Paris and Düsseldorf. She then travelled to Zurich to study at its university in 1867 as it was the only medical school in Europe to admit women at the time. By 26 years old she had obtained her medical qualification from the University of Zurich in 1870 and is still known today as one of the few people who completed the six-year course in three years. She also learnt Sanskrit in her spare time in addition to her language skills in French and German. Her remarkable doctoral thesis on muscular dystrophy also challenged the work and views of her supervisor. It is a common misconception that Elizabeth Garret was the first woman to receive a Doctorate in Medicine but in reality it was Frances Hoggan who obtained this degree three months before Garret who completed her course at the University in Paris in June 1870.
Following her graduation Frances went onto conduct post-graduate work in Vienna, Prague and Paris and in 1874 she married Dr. George Hoggan. Together the couple established the first husband and wife medical practice in Britain. Based in London they both published forty-two medical research papers in English, German and French and Frances herself became a specialist in women’s and children’s diseases. During this time she also became a campaigner and social reformer and has been cited as an important figure within books written on the suffragette movement in Britain. She never forgot her Welsh background and become heavily involved during the 1880s in debates concerning intermediate and higher education in Wales, particularly with emphasis on the importance of opportunities for women. She has been known to submit a variety of papers on this subject, including her paper on “The Present Condition of Intermediate and Higher Education in Wales” which she wrote to the Aberdare committee.
In 1882 she also wrote “Education for Girls in Wales”, which was an influential work that she spoke about in many meetings in Wales and London. The book was printed by the Women’s Printing Society, which operated during the Women’s movement and examined the quality of education available to girls during the period. Before this time the Education Act of 1870 created a wider gap between the educations of the different social classes and aimed to stress the importance of the domestic subjects, such as cooking and sewing, within the education of young girls. Drafted by William Forster, the act aimed to keep Britain at the forefront of manufacture and improvement. Writers such as Anna Davin and Carol Dyhouse link the Education Act to contemporary fears regarding the future of the British Empire, and its dwindling influence during this period.
Frances also become very involved in the education and social reforms of South Africa, the Middle East, India and the USA in particular. She toured the United States and gave some very important lectures in which she campaigned against the lynching of African-Americans in the southern states. She also spoke about this issue at the first Universal Race Congress held in London in 1911 whilst also writing articles on this subject, with the most significant of these being “American Negro Women During the First Fifty Years of Freedom” which was published in 1913.
Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (MD) died in 1927. Her ashes were interred with her husband’s in Woking cemetery in an unmarked plot. In 1970, on the anniversary of Frances’ receiving of her medical degree, the Cathedral in Brecon held a service dedicated to her and her amazing work. The Brecknock Society also presented the Cathedral with an inscribed font ewer in memory of the great woman. There have been several pamphlets and books written about or mentioning Frances. Dr. Gareth Evans described her as “… one of the leading feminist pioneers in Wales”. She should be remembered as being a woman who was ahead of her time in her campaigning for the rights of the oppressed whilst also using her medical knowledge to help others. Throughout history she will always be an inspirational figure.
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, in 1849.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to qualify as a surgeon in Britain, in 1865.
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