Lilian Lindsay

Lilian Lindsay, CBE, FSA (née Murray) (24 July 1871 – 31 January 1960) was a dentist, dental historian, librarian and author who became the first qualified female dentist in Britain and the first female president of the British Dental Association.

Biography She was born Lilian Murray in Holloway, London in 1871, the daughter of a musician, and the third of eleven children. She was educated at the Camden School for Girls, and won a scholarship to the North London Collegiate School. The founder and headmistress of the school, Frances Buss, informed Lilian that she would be suited to a career teaching deaf children; Lilian disagreed, and informed Miss Buss that she would become a dentist. Due to the argument, Lilian lost the scholarship and left the school in 1889.

Lindsay was able to secure a three-year apprenticeship in dentistry through a family friend, but did not feel this was enough and sought to enrol in dental school. She passed preliminary examinations, and in 1892 she applied for entry to the National Dental Hospital in Great Portland Street. The dean, Henry Weiss, refused to admit her because she was a woman; he was so concerned that she would distract the male students that he interviewed her on the pavement outside the school. thumb

After qualifying, Lilian returned to North London to work until 1905, a move she had to make to pay off her debts. In 1905 she married Robert Lindsay and moved back to Edinburgh to practise with him at 2 Brandon Street. They continued in practice until 1920, when Robert was appointed the first full-time Dental Secretary of the British Dental Association. They moved to a flat above the BDA headquarters in Russell Square, London, and Lilian became honorary librarian to the BDA. She founded the library with books bequeathed by Gaddes, and contributed her own artefacts to start the museum. She learned French, German, Latin and some Old English and Spanish to help with her historical research. In the same year she delivered the first C.E. Wallis lecture to the Royal Society of Medicine, and later became President of the Odontological Section (1945) and History of Medicine Society (previously section), (1950–2) of the RSM. She was also President of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics (B.S.S.O.) in 1938.

In 1946, Lindsay became the first female President of the British Dental Association, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Edinburgh, and was awarded the CBE. She also published her translation of Pierre Fauchard's Le Chirurgien Dentiste (The Surgeon Dentist) in 1946, the first time the landmark work had been translated into English. She continued to expand the BDA library until her death in 1960, and received a number of awards and honorary degrees during this time.

Awards and honours 1894 – Wilson Medal for dental surgery and pathology and the medal for materia medica and therapeutics, Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School 1895 – Licentiate in Dental Surgery, Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School 1938 – President of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics 1945 – John Tomes Prize, Royal College of Surgeons of England; President of the Odontological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine 1946 – President, British Dental Association; honorary LL.D., University of Edinburgh; Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 1947 – Fellowship of Dental Surgery (FDS), Royal College of Surgeons of England 1950 – First female President of the Medical Society of London 1950 - 1952 - First female President of the History of Medicine Society at the Royal Society of Medicine. It was at this address that Lindsay first decided to become a dentist. The plaque was unveiled by Dame Margaret Seward, the former President of the General Dental Council and Chief Dental Officer and Lindsay's niece, Margaret Murray.