Harriet Jemima Winifred Clisby

Harriet Clisby (31 August 1830 – 30 April 1931) was an English physician, women's rights activist, and founder of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston.

Early life

Harriet Jemima Winifred Clisby was born in St. James's, London, in 1830, and moved with her parents and two siblings to Adelaide, South Australia, when she was eight years old. She married sailor Henry Edward Walker on 25 February 1848.

Clisby was a vegetarian from 1847, the same year in which she became a member of the Swedenborgian New Church. She also practiced gymnastics.

Inspired by Elizabeth Blackwell's 1852 book on women's health, Clisby decided to study medicine. She traveled to England and studied nursing at Guy's Hospital,

In 1877, while still living in Boston, Clisby and several friends founded the Women's Educational and Industrial Union to address the problems of poor women, especially unemployed immigrants. In a large building on Boylston Street, women could take English language lessons, learn millinery, dressmaking, and needlework, and obtain free legal advice. Later the WEIU provided job placement services and training for domestic and retail work, and eventually established a women's credit union. The WEIU remained in operation well into the 20th century, providing many of the same services as a settlement house. Clisby served briefly as the organization's first president before resigning for health reasons, and was vice president from 1882 to 1889. In 1930, she was described as the oldest woman doctor in the world.

Clisby is remembered in connection with the WEIU on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.

Clisby Close, in the Australian Capital Territory suburb of Cook, is named in her honour.