Margaret Boileau

Margaret Lucy Augusta Boileau (18 July 1867 – 17 September 1923) was an English doctor, surgeon,[1] suffragist and philanthropist.[2] On her premature death from cancer in 1923, she was widely lauded for having shown 'devotion to the cause of knowledge' in carefully recording the course of her disease in the name of medical research.[3][4]

Margaret Lucy Augusta Boileau
Born18 July 1867
Ketteringham
Died17 September 1923
Norwich
EducationLondon School of Medicine for Women
OccupationDoctor, surgeon

Life

Margaret Boileau was born in Ketteringham, Norfolk, on 18 July 1867, to Sir Francis George Manningham Boileau and Lucy Henrietta Nugent.[2][5][6] Her brother was Sir Maurice Boileau.[2] For the first thirty years of her life, Boileau travelled widely with her father, starting to study medicine only in her thirties.[7] She qualified as a doctor in 1906, having studied at the London School of Medicine for Women.[2] Boileau worked at the New Hospital for Women and at Ravenscourt Park Hospital.[2]

Boileau was a supporter of women's suffrage (described as 'ardent but not militant')[2] and of the Labour Party.[8] She was also an active supporter of Hellesdon Hospital, the Girl Guide movement, the Church Missionary Society, and the Young Women's Christian Association.[2] Boileau was said to have 'devoted herself to public, philanthropic, and social work'.[9] During World War I, she cared for wounded soldiers at Ketteringham Hall, Norfolk[10] and was commandant of the Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital at Swainsthorpe.[2]

Death

When Boileau was diagnosed with cancer, she 'gathered at her bedside a band of devoted women',[4] to whom she 'daily described her symptoms in the interests of medical research'.[11] She died on 17 September 1923 at the age of 56.[12] On her death, Boileau left £200 'to the Norfolk and Norwich Staff of Nurses, Ltd.', and £100 each to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, and the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital.[13]

References
  1. Group, British Medical Journal Publishing (1923-09-22). "Dr. Margaret L. A. Boileau". Br Med J. 2 (3273): 544. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3273.544-e. ISSN 0007-1447. S2CID 220219293.
  2. "Dr. Margaret Boileau". The Times. 19 September 1923.
  3. "Heroism on a Death-bed". The Gloucestershire Echo. 19 September 1923.
  4. "Heroic Cancer Victim". Western Gazette. 21 September 1923.
  5. "Margaret Lucy Augusta Boileau". www.otway.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  6. Burke's Peerage
  7. "Dr. Margaret Boileau". The Woman's Leader and the Common Cause. 28 December 1923.
  8. Britain), Labour Party (Great. Report of the ... Annual Conference of the Labour Party. The Party.
  9. "City Council's Sympathy". Yarmouth Independent. 22 September 1923.
  10. Armes, Stacey; Watts, Ryan (2018-11-15). Wymondham & District Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-6507-8.
  11. "MEDICAL HEROISM". Sydney Morning Herald. 1923-09-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  12. "Death". Association Intelligence and Diary [Supplement to the British Medical Journal. 2 (3274): 148. 29 September 1923. PMC 2317009.
  13. Group, British Medical Journal Publishing (1923-12-08). "Letters, Notes, and Answers". Br Med J. 2 (3284): 1126. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3284.1126. ISSN 0007-1447. S2CID 220230783.
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