Dr Edith Sarah Maisie Merry
Personal Details
Dr Edith Sarah Maisie Merry MRCS LRCP FFARCS DA
Other family names:
First marriage used both spelling variations Gidley and Gidleigh. Second marriage Eley. Practiced professionaly using her maiden name.
01/06/1917 to 29/03/1996
Place of birth: Bayswater, London, England
Nationality: British
CRN: 532802
Education and qualifications
| General education | Ilford County High School 1925-1935; Head Girl. University College Hospital (UCH), London 1935-39, winning Histology Prize. |
|---|---|
| Primary medical qualification(s) | MRCS Eng., LRCP Lond., 1939 MBBS, University of London, 1944 |
| Initial Fellowship and type | FFARCS by Election |
| Year of Fellowship | 1953 |
| Other qualification(s) | DA (RCP&S), 1942 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
Following qualification Dr Merry undertook an initial post as a “Casualty Dresser” at UCH in London 1939-40, followed by a Surgical House Officer post at St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester 1940-41. She then undertook a further post as a Casualty Officer at St Alfege’s Hospital, Greenwich where she also gained some early experience in anaesthesia 1941-42. She then returned to UCH becoming a Registrar in Anaesthesia for 1942-45. In 1945 she entered the Royal Army Medical Corps specialising in anaesthesia initially with the rank of Lieutenant with a war service commission.
Following her military service she moved in 1946 to the Nuneaton Hospitals as a resident anaesthetist. In 1948 she was appointed a Consultant Anaesthetist to the Nuneaton and Coventry Hospitals, where she remained until her retirement in 1977. Alongside her consultant post she worked additionally as a Family Planning Officer at a clinic in Nuneaton from 1956 to 1970. She remained a member of the RAMC medical military reserves until 1977.
Professional interests and activities
Dr Merry lists her areas of clinical intrests as Epidurals, Intensive Care and Hypotensive Anaesthesia. In 1946 she jointly published an article titled “Epidural Analgesia for Caesarean Section” with a colleague at UCH. She was a member of the Royal Society of Medicine, serving on the Anaesthetic Committee 1960-62, and a member of the Association of Anaesthetists. Dr Merry was a member of the local BMA division and in 1957 became the first female chair for the local Nuneaton and Tamworth division. She volunteered as a medical officer to the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade 1948-58.
Answering the question “why did you take up anaesthesia as a specialty?” in her college autobiographical form she states that the medical superintendant at St Alfeges Hospital suggested she had a natural ability for anaesthesia, and enabled her to attend the first DA course in London in 1942; and she was subsequently invited to apply for a post as an anaesthetic registrar at UCH. She also mentions that her time in the RAMC provided some unique opportunities.
Other biographical information
In 1945 she married Claude Gidley (Gidleigh), who was a musician, church organist and church choirmaster. He predeceased her in 1967. Together they had two children Sarah b. 1947 and Alexander b.1949. In 1971 she married Douglas Eley, a salesman.
In retirement she volunteered as secretary to the local women’s institute and as a bereavement councillor at the local hospice. She enjoyed tennis, gardening and the ”National Trust”. Dr Merry passed away at the age of 78, survived by her second husband and her two children from her first marriage.
Author and sources
Author:
Dr Innes Simon Chadwick
Sources and comments:
Family and bibliographical information accessed on line Ancestry.com.
Newspaper Archives accessed on line FindmyPast.com. Several articles available.
The GMC UK Medical Register 1940, 1941, 1943, 1959 accessed on line Ancestry.com.
The Medical Directory 1942 accessed on line Ancestry.com.
The Medical Directory, Churchill, London , 1968, Vol 2 , p 1648
The Medical Directory , Churchill, London, 1954, Vol 2 , p 1405
Crouch DME, Merry ESM. Epidural Analgesia for Caesarean Section. British Journal Anaesthesia; 1946; 20: 24-33.
Dr Merry’s self-submitted Royal College autobiographical “Boulton form”dated 1988