Marion Gilchrist graduated in 1894 as the first woman to do so in the University’s history

This year marks the 130th anniversary of the graduation of Marion Gilchrist, the first woman to graduate from the University of Glasgow and the first woman to gain a medical degree in Scotland.

Born in 1864 in Bothwell, Gilchrist first matriculated as an Arts student at Queen Margaret College, in 1887. Founded in 1883, Queen Margaret College was a women-only higher education institution located in Glasgow’s West End, and was unique in Scotland at the time. In 1890 the College established a new Medical School, and after attaining a LLA (Lady Literate in Arts), Gilchrist was one of nine female students who enrolled in medicine that same year.

Queen Margaret College Medical Students 1892-93. Gilchrist is fourth from the left, second row from the top

Queen Margaret College ultimately merged with the University of Glasgow in 1892 following an Ordinance of the Scottish Universities Commissioners that dictated women should be allowed admittance to university on broadly equal terms to men. As such, in July 1894 when Gilchrist graduated MB CM with a high commendation, she gained the distinction of being both the first female medical graduate and first female graduate of the University.

Gilchrist later became a GP in the West End of Glasgow, specialising in eye diseases. From 1914 until 1930 she was Assistant Surgeon for Diseases of the Eye at the Victoria Infirmary. She was also active in the voluntary sector, serving from 1903 to 1911 as physician to the Queen Margaret College Settlement's Invalid Children's School.

In 1903 Gilchrist joined the Glasgow and West of Scotland Association for Women's Suffrage, but left in 1907 to join the more radical Women's Social and Political Union and the Women's Freedom League. She was a prominent member of the British Medical Association and the first woman chairman of its Glasgow division. She was also a trustee of the Muirhead Trust.

Marion Gilchrist’s legacy lives on in several ways at the University. In addition to the naming of the Gilchrist Postgraduate Club and Café, the Marion Gilchrist Prize is an award given by the Medical School to the most distinguished female medical graduate each year.

We are marking the anniversary of Marion Gilchrist alongside the University’s celebration of International Women’s Day.

Find out more information about events going on across the University and across the city.

First published: 8 March 2024

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