Isabel Thorne

Isabel Jane Thorne (née Pryer; 22 September 1834 – 9 October 1910) was an early campaigner for medical education for women. Mrs Thorne, as she was known, was a member of the feminist Edinburgh Seven, who campaigned and succeeded in securing the right by statute for women to be educated to qualify as doctors. An exemplary Victorian, Thorne's dedication to duty and service was a precursor for the more violent campaigns of the suffragettes to achieve full enfranchisement for women. Early life She was born Isabel Jane Pryer on 22 September 1834 in London, the third daughter of Isabel (1812–1884) and Thomas Pryer (1810/11–1851), a solicitor. She was educated at Queen's College, London. On 12 August 1856 she married Joseph Thorne (1823–1885), a tea merchant in China and spent most of her early married life in Shanghai. The couple are believed to have had five children, including: Isobel (born 1860; became an art student), May (born Mary in 1861, who became a surgeon after supporting her mother in her campaigns); and Dr Atwood Thorne, surgeon to the London Throat Hospital. While living in Shanghai one of her children died which inspired her to travel to China and India to help women and children. Medical career Thorne became convinced of the need for women to have female doctors for themselves and their children, especially women living in China and India. She travelled through China during the Taiping Rebellion. When the family returned to England in 1868 she started midwifery training at the Ladies' Medical College in Fitzroy Square, London, later describing the teaching there as inadequate.