Josephine Barnes

Dame Alice Josephine Mary Taylor Barnes, DBE (1912 - 1999), known professionally as Josephine Barnes, was educated at Oxford High School and the University of Oxford, reading Natural Sciences at Lady Margaret Hall.

She was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (of which was she sometime Vice-President).

She was the first woman consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Charing Cross Hospital (1954) and the first woman President of the British Medical Association (1979-1980). She was also Chairman of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital Appeal Trust, President of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (from 1994 called the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Women's Health) (1977-95), and President of the Royal British Nurses' Association.

She took a prominent role in the public debate over the 1967 Abortion Act.

She was also a Friend of the English Pocket Opera Company and a Guardian of Westminster Abbey.

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