Louise McIlroy

Dame Anne Louise McIlroy (11 November 1874 – 8 February 1968), known as Louise McIlroy, was a distinguished and honoured Irish-born British physician, specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology. She was both the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and to register as a research student at the University of Glasgow. She was also the first woman medical professor in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education McIlroy was born on 11 November 1874 at Lavin House, County Antrim (present-day Northern Ireland). Her father, James, was a general practitioner at Ballycastle. In 1894 she matriculated at the University of Glasgow to study medicine and obtained her MB ChB in 1898. In 1900 she received her MD with commendation. During her studies she won class prizes in both medicine and pathology.

During her time in Salonika she established a nurses training school for Serbian girls and oversaw the establishment of the only orthopaedic centre in the Eastern Army. She finished her war service as a surgeon at a Royal Army Medical Corps hospital in Constantinople. Dr Halliday Sutherland heard her talk and he later quoted her in his 1922 book "Birth Control". When Marie Stopes sued Dr Sutherland for libel over remarks in the book, McIlroy became a witness for the defence.

She retired in 1934, in her own words 'to gain a few years of freedom ' Anaesthesia and analgesia in labour - with Katharine G. Lloyd-Williams (1934) The Toxaemias of Pregnancy (1936)

Honours For her work during the First World War McIlroy was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1916, for her services to medicine and in 1929 she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

She was elected as a Foundation Fellow to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

She received several honorary degrees including a DSc from Belfast of which she was particularly proud.

She was an Honorary Fellow of the Liverpool Medical Institution.

Later life After the Second World War she returned to her retirement and left London to live with her sister, Dr Janie McIlroy, in Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland. She died in the Glasgow Hospital on 8 February 1968, aged 93. She never married.