Jessie Anne Scott

Born 9 Aug 1883 - Died 17 Aug 1959

Service number: —
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Armed force / branch: Army AWMM
Last rank: —
War: World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM

Jessie Anne Scott — Dr Jessie Ann Scott (1883–1959), circa 1907. Two studio portraits, believed to depict Scott, taken by Christchurch photographer Henry Herbert Clifford. Glass Plate Negative: Miss J Scott (twin negative), circa 1907. Clifford Collection, Canterbury Museum 1980.175.75345 (PIC80/38). No Known Copyright Restrictions

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Biographical information

Dr Jessie Ann Scott (1883–1959) was born on 9 August 1883 at Coldwells, her family's farm at Brookside, Canterbury. She was the youngest of nine children of David Scott (1837–1902), originally from Fife, Scotland, and Mary Armit Scott (c.1840–1921).

Scott attended Christchurch Girls' High School and completed her preliminary medical studies at Canterbury University College before travelling to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. She graduated MB ChB in 1909 and MD in 1912.

While studying in Edinburgh, Scott became involved in the women's suffrage movement. In 1908, she joined fellow students campaigning during the Kincardine parliamentary by-election. She also experienced the restrictions placed on women seeking medical training and professional appointments.

Following graduation, Scott worked for approximately eight months as resident medical officer at the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children, an institution associated with Dr Elsie Inglis. From 1910 to 1913, she was an assistant medical officer with the London County Council.

By May 1913, Scott had returned to New Zealand and was practising in Auckland. During the smallpox epidemic that year, she supervised a large temporary isolation hospital, assisted by three nurses.

Following the outbreak of World War I, Scott returned to Britain and joined the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service, established by Dr Elsie Inglis and supported by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. The organisation provided medical assistance to Allied forces at a time when British military authorities were unwilling to accept women doctors for military medical appointments.

Scott arrived at Lazarevac, Serbia, on 19 September 1915 and initially worked at a Serbian reserve hospital. When German and Austro-Hungarian forces invaded Serbia in October, the medical units were forced to withdraw alongside the Serbian Army. Scott's unit eventually established a hospital at Kruševac, where staff treated wounded soldiers in increasingly overcrowded conditions.

As enemy forces approached, some members of the medical staff attempted to escape through Montenegro. Others, including Dr Elsie Inglis, founder of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, chose to remain to care for the wounded. Reporting on the situation in February 1916, the Otago Witness noted:

“Dr Jessie Scott decided to remain with her.”

Scott and her colleagues were subsequently held prisoner. After several months, they were escorted through Vienna and Austria before being released into Switzerland in February 1916 and returning to Britain.

In August 1916, Scott travelled with a Scottish Women's Hospitals unit to Russia and subsequently Romania, where it supported the First Serbian Division in the Dobrudja region. The unit was again forced to retreat during the fighting, accompanying soldiers and civilian refugees in difficult conditions. Scott continued serving as a medical officer with the Serbian Army until 1918.

In 1919, she was attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in Salonika and later in France. In recognition of her medical work with Serbian forces, she was awarded the Order of St Sava, third class, by the Serbian government.

Scott returned to London in 1920, resuming her appointment as an assistant medical officer with the London County Council until 1922. During this period, she also undertook further postgraduate studies in women's and children's medicine.
In 1924, Scott returned to Christchurch, initially working as an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Christchurch Hospital. She subsequently resigned from this position to establish a private practice, while continuing her association with the hospital as an honorary gynaecologist for approximately ten years.

Scott remained committed to women's education and participation in public life. She was president of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Federation of University Women in 1930 and 1931 and was also involved with the National Council of Women.

An accomplished watercolour artist, Scott made sketches during her wartime service in Serbia. In 1972, her nieces in Christchurch were reported to hold a collection of these drawings.

Scott also served as lady district superintendent of the St John Ambulance Brigade in Canterbury and the West Coast. During World War II, she was deputy chairwoman of the Women's War Service Auxiliary.
In 1958, Scott travelled to Britain for a reunion with former Scottish Women's Hospitals colleagues and attended the International Congress of Medical Women in London as one of two New Zealand representatives.
She died in Christchurch on 15 August 1959, aged 76. AWMM

About death

Death: 17 Aug 1959 AWMM
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Obituary: Noted N.Z. Woman Doctor Dies In Christchurch

CHRISTCHURCH, Today (PA). — Dr. Jessie Anne Scott, who was well known for her service with the Scottish Women's Medical Corps in Serbia during the First World War, died in Christchurch on Saturday. She was 76. For her medical work in Serbia she was awarded the Order of St. Sava by the Serbian Government. Dr. Scott came of a pioneering farming family at Brookside. She received her medical training at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying as a doctor in 1909. She returned to New Zealand in 1913 and was in practice in Auckland, but on the outbreak of war went to the United Kingdom to serve with the Scottish Women's Medical Corps. Dr. Scott was in private practice in Christchurch from 1925. (Noted N.Z. Woman Doctor Dies In Christchurch. Evening Post, 17 August 1959, Page 8)

Obituary Dr. Jessie Scott’s Service During First World War

Dr. Jessie Anne Scott, Who was well known for her service with the Scottish Women’s Medical Corps in Serbia during World War I, where her corps suffered great hardships during the retreat of the Serbian and Russian armies in 1916, and she herself was a prisoner of war for three months, died in Christchurch on Saturday. She was 76. Dr. Scott left New Zealand on the outbreak of World War I to join the Scottish Women’s Medicap Corps, which was organised by Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first women medical graduates of the University of Edinburgh, where Dr. Scott also received her medical training.

The Scottish Women’s Medical Corps was a hospital unit staffed entirely by women, but as the British Government did not accept the services of medical women, or make use of hospitals organised on such lines, the first units of the corps went to France &nd Serbia. When the Austrian and German armies overran Serbia, Dr. Scott was taken prisoner with others of her unit, but after three months the British hospital units were released, and their members returned to England through Switzerland. • Service in Russia

The Scottish Women’s Medical Corps was then sent to Russia to work with the First Serbian Division of the Russian Army. The unit sailed to Archangel at the end of August, 1916, and went at once to the south or Russia. The hospital unit had just begun operating in the Dobrudja area on the Russian front in Rumania when the German and Austrian forces began an offensive, and the hospital unit was forced to retreat along with the armies and refugee population of Rumania. Extreme hardships were experienced in the retreat but thanks to the leadership of Dr. Inglis the unit and its equipment Were brought safely back to Russia. Dr. Scott continued as a medical officer attached to the Serbian Army until 1918. In 1919, she was attached as a doctor to the Royal Army Medical Corps in Salonika, and also served in France with this corps during this year. For medical work with the Serbian Army, she was awarded the Order of St. Sava by the Serbian Government. Dr. Scott came of a pioneering farming family at Brookside, her parents being David and Mary Armit Scott. She was educated at the Christchurch Girls’ High School, and then went to Edinburgh University to take her medical training. After qualifying as a doctor in 1909, she was a resident medical officer at the Edinburgh Hospital for Women and Children from 1909 to 1910, and was an assistant medical officer for the London County Council from 1910 to 1913: She'returned to New Zealand in 1913 and was in practice in Auckland, but on the outbreak of World War I was recalled to the United Kingdom by Dr. Inglis to serve with the Scottish Women’s Medical Corps. Work in London

Returning to England in 1920, Dr. Scott was again a medical officer for the London County Council, and did further postgraduate work in women’s and children’s diseases at the Chelsea Hospital for Women and thfe Victoria Hospital for Children.

Dr. Scott returned to New Zealand in 1925, and was in private practice in Christchurch. She was an honorary gynaecologist at the Christchurch Public Hospital from 1925 to 1935.

For some 30 years Dr. Scott was a member of the Federation of University Women, and was a former president of that organisation. She was also a member of the National Council of Women. Other organisations to which she belonged were the Canterbury Women’s Club, the Cercle Francais, the Canterbury Society of Arts, the Association of Friends of the Museum, and the Antarctic Society. During World War II she was also a deputy-chairwoman of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary.

(Obituary Dr. Jessie Scott’s Service During First World War. Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28975, 17 August 1959, Page 3) AWMM
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Jessie Anne Scott

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