Dr Gwendolen Harrison
Personal Details
Dr Gwendolen Harrison MB ChB FFARCS DA
01/11/1907 to 04/02/1992
Place of birth: London, England
Nationality: British
CRN: 557564
Education and qualifications
|
General education |
Leeds Girls High School 1918-26 |
|---|---|
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Primary medical qualification(s) |
MB ChB, University of Leeds, 1932 |
|
Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Election |
|
Year of Fellowship |
1953 |
|
Other qualification(s) |
DA (RCP&S), 1935 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
After graduation Gwendolen Harrison was house physician in the children’s department at Leeds General Infirmary until November 1932, followed by a year as house surgeon at Taunton & Somerset Hospital. She then spent a year as resident anaesthetist at Leicester Royal Infirmary until November 1934, followed by a year as Anaesthetic Registrar at the Royal Free Hospital, (when it was still at Gray’s Inn Road) London until November 1935. From 1936 to 1937 she was Visiting Anaesthetist to the General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital in Leeds, as well as Clayton Hospital, Wakefield and Dewsbury General Infirmary. By 1940 she was designated Anaesthetist to the General Infirmary and the School of Dentistry in Leeds, and Honorary Anaesthetist to the Leeds Public Dispensary. In 1950 she was appointed Consultant Anaesthetist at the United Leeds Hospitals and the Leeds Regional Hospital Board, as well as Clinical Lecturer in Anaesthesia at the University of Leeds. She remained in these posts until her retirement in 1967.
Professional interests and activities
The few papers which Gwendolen Harrison published were on the pulse during thio-barbiturate anaesthesia, spinal analgesia, and phenothiazines. She was President of the Yorkshire Society of Anaesthetists in 1955. Having been active in the Medical Women’s Federation since qualifying, she continued in retirement to be Honorary Treasurer, Secretary and President of the Yorkshire Association of Medical Women
Other biographical information
She never married. Apart from one year as a house surgeon in Somerset, she spent her high school, university and working years in Leeds. On retirement in 1967 she moved to Oxford, where she continued her interest in collecting antiques. Becoming blind, she carried out Brail transcription for the National Library for the Blind between 1968 and 1980.
Author and sources
Author:
Dr Alistair McKenzie
Sources and comments:
[1] Dr Harrison’s self submitted biographical college “Boulton form” dated 1988.
[2] Medical Register and Medical Directories.
[3] Death registration and grave in ancestry.co.uk (accessed 23/11/2023).