Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was born in Whitechapel, east London in 1836. She became the first Englishwoman to qualify as a doctor and was a political and healthcare campaigner. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, like Florence Nightingale, received a good education and was expected to marry well and live the life of a lady. However meetings with the feminist Emily Davies and Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American woman physician, convinced Elizabeth that she should become a doctor.

This was almost unheard of in 19th century Britain and she was refused entry into all the medical schools she applied to. She enrolled as a nursing student at Middlesex Hospital and when she attended classes intended for male doctors she was barred after complaints from other students. The Society of Apothecaries did not specifically forbid women from taking their examinations, so in 1865 she passed their exams and gained a certificate which enabled her to become a doctor. The Society then changed its rules to prevent other women entering the profession this way.

In 1866, with help from her father she established a dispensary for women in London and in 1870 was made a visiting physician to the East London Hospital. She was still determined to complete a medical degree, so she went to the University of Paris, where she was successful. However the British Medical Register refused to recognise her qualification.

Anderson founded the New Hospital for Women in London in 1872, which was staffed entirely by women. In 1873 she gained membership of the British Medical Association, the Association voted against the admission of further women and so she remained the only woman member for 19 years. However, she paved the way for other women, and in 1876 an act was passed permitting women to enter the medical professions.

In 1908, Anderson became the first female mayor in England and was a member of the suffragette movement. She died on 17th December 1917.