Laura Veale

Laura Sobey Veale (30 August 1867 – 14 August 1963), known as Dr Laura, was an English general practitioner, gynaecologist, and obstetrician. She was the first Yorkshire-born woman to become a doctor. She was refused entry to Leeds School of Medicine, even though the Leeds Mercury published letters of complaint about her treatment. With encouragement from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and support from a local boys' school she was finally accepted at the London Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women, and qualified with a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) degree at the age of 37.

Veale was the first woman resident officer at the Hospital for Women and Children in Leeds. She opened her surgery in Harrogate, becoming the first female physician in the town. She set up a dispensary, Margaret Christina Veale, and accountant Gerald Cater Veale, who was pro-chancellor of the University of Leeds. in Greenside House which still stands opposite the village school in Hampsthwaite. In 1871 the family was still in Hampsthwaite. By 1881 the family was living in Victoria Park, Bilton, Harrogate, where Veale's childhood was spent. At his Harrogate funeral his hearse was followed by "an exceedingly large concourse of townspeople", and the procession was headed by the police, and followed by members of the town council, the legal profession and the medical profession, 100 members of the Conservative Club, the Primrose League, the borough justices, the mayor of Harrogate, and representatives of the Freemasons. Veale, aged 21, rode in the first carriage with her siblings, the youngest of whom was 12 years old. They were followed by more than 20 private carriages. En route to Harrogate Cemetery, shops were closed, blinds were drawn, and flags lowered to half mast. At the funeral, the many wreaths hid the coffin. The Western Morning News said, "It was the largest funeral seen in Harrogate for several years". In 1891 the census finds Veale living in Rosebury (house), Bilton, with her widowed mother, three siblings and two servants. Like Veale's father, her mother also had a large funeral, including among the many mourners doctor Wilfrid Edgecombe and his wife.

Veale never married. on 14 August 1963, aged 95 years.

Career Training Veale was inspired to become a doctor by her father's example, and she was supported in her ambition by her brothers. and she was "denied entry" to the Leeds School of Medicine.

It seems only reasonable that I who have been a student of the college for the past two sessions, should have the same facilities for continuing the medical course as the men who have been my fellow students for that time. The Leeds Mercury published letters of complaint about her exclusion from training. She also received encouragement from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. She qualified with a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) degree in 1904. From 1914, female medical students were allowed in the entirety of the surgical outpatient department at Leeds Infirmary. Her speciality was promoting the welfare of children and women. In the New Park area of Harrogate she set up a dispensary or consulting room, Under Veale it was a centre for maternity and child welfare. Veale had promoted the scheme for that address so that the Local Government Board gave a grant of £214 16s 5d. for the years 1918–1919. The centre opened in March 1920, but Harrogate Council did not purchase the building until 16 June 1921. She retired in 1936.

Institutions Veale was a member of the Leeds and West Riding Chirurgical Society, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, representing the provinces beyond London. and founded, and became president of, the Harrogate branch of the National Council of Women. In 1954, Veale served on the Avondale Trust committee which was dedicated to setting up a home for the aged and destitute in the former Avondale Hotel in Harrogate.

Second World War In the Second World War, Veale organised the Women's Voluntary Service corps for Harrogate, which she ran between 1938 and 1952. According to historian Malcolm Neesam, Veale was, "someone who tackled everything with vast amounts of enthusiasm. During the war, [she] led the campaign in Harrogate to collect scrap metal to use in the war effort. She would ride through town in a car pulled by local Scouts, shouting out at the top of her voice".

Commemoration and assessment

In 1946, following her efforts during the Second World War, Veale was presented with a silver cigarette case "as a token of admiration and affection" by the Harrogate women's organisations. "Veale's achievements were ... acknowledged by North Yorkshire County Council's Sons and Daughters Campaign which saw the clinician make the top ten in their public vote". She "took the number one spot as one of North Yorkshire's most influential figures in medicine". Veale's work included recognition of the needs of "those from the more deprived parts of Yorkshire". Carl Les, the leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: "Figures such as Laura Veale are incredibly important to the county. She showed determination and dedication not to give up in difficult times". In January 2023, Malcolm Neesam, Harrogate Civic Society and Harrogate Medical Society affixed a brown plaque in celebration of Veale on the building wherein she established her surgery, at 3 Victoria Avenue. In the same month, a blue plaque in commemoration of Veale was placed on the house in Hampsthwaite where she was born, and unveiled by the chair of Hampsthwaite and District NHS Foundation Trust.