Queer Places:
63 Dean Path, Edinburgh EH4 3AT, United Kingdom
Helen de Lacey Evans (née Carter; 1833/1834 – October 4, 1903) was a pioneering member of the "Edinburgh Seven," the first group of women to matriculate as undergraduate students at a British university.
Born in Athy, Ireland, to Major Henry Carter and Helen Gray, she married cavalry officer Henry John Delacy Evans in 1854. Following the death of her husband and her infant daughter, Helen, she sought to pursue a career in medicine.
In 1869, she joined Sophia Jex-Blake and five other women—Mary Anderson, Emily Bovell, Matilda Chaplin, Edith Pechey, and Isabel Thorne—to apply for medical studies at the University of Edinburgh. Despite passing her matriculation examinations with distinction, she and the rest of the group were eventually prevented from graduating due to intense institutional opposition and a legal ruling.
After leaving her studies, Evans remained committed to the advancement of women in medicine and education:
In 1871, she married Alexander Russel, the editor of The Scotsman, who was a staunch supporter of the women’s medical campaign.
She served as one of the first female members of the St Andrews School Board for 15 years and was a council member for St Leonards School for Girls.
She served on the executive committee to establish a medical school for women in Edinburgh and was a vice president of the committee for the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children.
She passed away in St Andrews on 4 October 1903 and was buried in the Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. In 2019, the University of Edinburgh awarded the Edinburgh Seven posthumous honorary degrees in recognition of their historic contributions.
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