Frances Gardner

Dame Frances Violet Gardner (28 February 1913 – 10 July 1989) was an English cardiologist. She introduced angiocardiography to Britain in 1946 and worked at the Royal Free Hospital from 1943 to 1975.

Early life Frances Gardner was born in Maidenhead in 1913 to Sir Ernest Gardner, a Conservative MP, and Amy Inglis, who was the daughter of politician and soldier John Laurie. Shen then studied medicine at the London Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women, completing her MBBS in 1940 and an MD in 1943. She became dean of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in 1962, a position she held until 1975, and was president of the medical school from 1975 until her death in 1989. She also held consulting positions at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, the Hospital for Women in Soho, and the Mothers' Hospital in Lower Clapton.

Gardner was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1952 and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1983, and appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1975.

Later life Gardner retired in 1975 and died in Camden, London, in 1989 and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery. Her will left the majority of her estate to purchase student accommodation at the Royal Free; a hall of residence at University College London is now named for her.