Blue plaque honours Bristol's first woman doctor

Summarised from BBC Bristol's report · Updated 4 Nov, 21:57 · Archive

Dr Eliza Walker Dunbar, Bristol's first woman doctor, has been honoured with a blue plaque at the site of her former hospital.

Dr Eliza Walker Dunbar, born in 1845, has been honoured with a blue plaque at the site of her former hospital in Berkeley Square, Bristol. She was one of the 'Zürich Seven', the first seven women to complete a formal medical degree at the University of Zürich in Switzerland. The University of Bristol installed the plaque alongside a replica of her brass doctors' name plate.

After moving to Bristol in 1873, Walker Dunbar became a house surgeon at Bristol's Children's Hospital, but was forced to resign when the male doctors walked out in protest. She then set up a private practice in Clifton and established an outpatient clinic for women and children in Hotwells in 1876. She opened the Bristol Private Hospital for Women and Children in Berkeley Square in 1895, where she remained senior surgeon until her death in 1925.

Prof Judith Squires, provost and deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Bristol, said Walker Dunbar was 'a pioneering woman who made an incredible difference to the people of Bristol' and had 'paved the way for millions of female doctors and clinicians after her'. The site is now part of the university's School of Education.

Read the report

• Plaque unveiled in honour of 'pioneering' doctorThe plaque honours Dr Eliza Walker Dunbar at the site of her former hospital in Berkeley Square.BBC Bristol · 4 Nov, 18:15

In this story: Dr Eliza Walker Dunbar · University of Zürich · University of Bristol · Bristol · Berkeley Square

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