Ella Webb

Dr Ella Webb
Born (1877-10-16)16 October 1877
Dublin
Died September 24, 1946(1946-09-24) (aged 68)
Known for founded Children's Sunshine Home for convalescents

Medical career

Profession paediatrician

Dr Isabella "Ella" Gertrude Amy Webb MBE was a pioneering Irish paediatrician and founder of the Children's Sunshine Home for convalescents, now part of the LauraLynn Ireland’s Children’s Hospice.[1]

Family and education

Webb was the foster daughter daughter of the Rev. Charles Thomas Ovenden and his wife Isabella Mary Robinson.[2] She was born in Dublin on the 16 October 1877.[3] Her natural parents were Charles's brother Dr William Henry Ovenden and his wife Edith. William and Edith were embroiled in a scandalous divorce case in New Zealand, and custody of the child was given to Charles. On attaining the age of 16 Ella was to choose where she wished to remain. [4]

Webb attended Alexandra College, Dublin, later continuing her education in Queen's College, London and subsequently University of Göttingen, then entering the Catholic University of Ireland.[2] Webb was the first woman to attain the highest marks in the final medical examinations of the Royal University of Ireland, and graduating as an MD in 1906.[5] Webb worked in Trinity College[2] until her marriage to George R. Webb, a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, in 1907.[3] They had two children, one son, Irish botanist David and one daughter, Mary Ovenden Webb.[3] She died aged 68 in 1946.[5]

Career

Following her marriage, Webb ran a private practice on Hatch Street.[2] During this time she also working as honorary medical officer to St Patrick's Dispensary for Women and Children, attended two baby clinics, lectured, and acted as an external examiner to the Department of Agriculture & Technical Instruction.

Webb was lady district superintendent in the Alexandra College St John Ambulance Brigade in Ireland from 1914, and was on duty during the Easter Rising.[2] During the conflict she set up an emergency hospital at the War Supply Depot, run by the Brigade in a building at 40 Merrion Square to deal with the wounded.[6] For her bravery during this time she was made a Lady of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1916),[7] and later awarded an MBE (1918).[2]

In 1918, Webb was appointed anaesthetist in Adelaide Hospital, making her the first female member of staff.[8] Webb became focused on the treatment of childhood ailments, particularly those relating to poor diet and hygiene, reporting on the high mortality rate in children under one in Dublin.[9] Webb is acknowledged as one of the first modern social workers in Ireland, then known as almoners.[10]

In 1925 she founded the Children's Sunshine Home for convalescents in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin with help from Overend women.[11] The Home initially specialised in treating children with rickets.[1]

Webb was physician in St Ultan's Infant Hospital, founded by Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen from 1929 to 1946.[3] She was elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, and was awarded MA (jure officii).[2]

Legacy

The General Medicine and Cardiology ward in Adelaide Hospital is named in her honour.[8] Webb was also the subject of a portrait by Seán Keating at the Golden Jubilee of the Easter Rising Exhibition in 1966 at the National Gallery of Ireland.[12]

Publications

References

  1. 1 2 LauraLynn. "Our History". LauraLynn. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Andrews, Helen. "Webb, Isabella (‘Ella’) Gertrude Amy". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge University Press.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Foley, Karen. "Earlscliffe Residents 1922 to 1930". The Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe, Baily, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Ovenden, Isabel Gertrude (30 June 1891). "Supreme Court Nisi Prius". New Zealand Press Volume XLV111 issue 7902 page 3.
  5. 1 2 Walsh, Brendan (2014). Knowing Their Place: The Intellectual Life of Women in the 19th Century. The History Press. ISBN 9780752498713.
  6. ↑ Irish Times report, described in the book “A ‘Peculiar’ Place: The Adelaide Hospital, Dublin 1839-1989”, David Mitchell, 1990, Blackwater Press, ISBN 0-905471-16-4
  7. ↑ Bowser, Thekla (1917). The story of British V.A.D. work in the Great War (reprint ed.). London: Imperial War Museum. p. 164. ISBN 9781901623604.
  8. 1 2 AMNCH. "AMNCH Wards". Adelaide and Meath Hospital Dublin. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Lawson, William (1917). "Infant Mortality and the Notification of Birth Acts, 1907, 1915" (PDF). Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Kearney, Noreen; Skehill, Caroline (2005). Social Work in Ireland: Historical Perspectives. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. p. 166. ISBN 9781904541233.
  11. ↑ Larkin, Bernadette. "The Overend Women". Women's Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Sean Keating". The Kenny Gallery. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
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