The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. They began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869 and, although the Court of Session ruled that they should never have been admitted, and they did not graduate or qualify as doctors, the campaign they fought gained national attention and won them many supporters, including Charles Darwin. Their campaign put the demands of women for a university education on the national political agenda, and eventually resulted in legislation to ensure that women could be licensed to practice medicine in 1876 (UK Medical Act 1876).
The group was also called the Septem contra Edinam ("Seven against Edinburgh", in reference to the Seven against Thebes of Greek mythology). Although over the four-year campaign some of the original seven left and others joined, the following women became known as the Edinburgh Seven:
They were the seven women listed in the petition to the Royal Infirmary on 15 November 1870 requesting admission to clinical teaching. They were all registered in the GMC Medical Students Register between 1869 and 1870 as bona fide medical students and required clinical instruction at the Infirmary in order to fulfil the requirements of a medical degree.[1]
- ^ Scotsman, The (15 November 1870). "Female Medical Students at the Infirmary".