Josephine Barnes

Who was Josephine Barnes?

Dame Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, DBE, known professionally as Dr. Josephine Barnes, was a leading obstetrician and gynaecologist.

She was born in Sheringham, Norfolk, England, and educated at Oxford High School in North Oxford and the University of Oxford, reading Natural Sciences at Lady Margaret Hall. She then studied medicine at University College, London.

When the Second World War started she was appointed to a post at the Samaritan Hospital. From 1947 she ran a mobile obstetric team from University College Hospital. Barnes was the first woman consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Charing Cross Hospital and the first woman President of the British Medical Association. She was also Chairman of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital Appeal Trust, President of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 1977 to 1995, and President of the Royal British Nurses' Association. She took a prominent role in the public debate over the 1967 Abortion Act. In 1994 she delivered the Hunterian Oration at the Hunterian Society