Jessie Hawkesworth Smith Japan Scotland India

Biography of Jessie Hawkesworth Smith

Jessie Hawkesworth Smith graduated MB ChB from the University in 1897.

Jessie was born 14 December, 1870 in Nagasaki, Japan. Her father, Alfred, was a dental surgeon and perhaps among the foreign physicians who traveled around the ports of the Far East on the naval vessels, which called regularly at Nagasaki to serve the increased foreign residents of the Nagasaki settlement.

Jessie first matriculated in 1892, aged 21. She studied in the faculty of Medicine, taking classes such as Botany, Anatomy, Physiology, and Practical Physics. She won numerous awards during her time at the University, including a first class certificate in Junior Anatomy and in Physiology. She also gained second class certificates in both Practical Physics and Botany.

Smith spent the early part of her medical career assisting medical superintendents in the Glasgow Medical Missionary Society (GMMS). The GMMS had its introductory meeting in 1867 and was a society based on evangelical ideals. It sought to encourage missionary enthusiasm in Glaswegian medical students and was primarily aimed at working with those in the poorest areas of Glasgow. Jessie Smith was the first female graduate of the University of Glasgow to work for the GMMS. In 1902, Smith married Thomas Lorimer Beveridge, Minister of the United Free Church, in Dumbartonshire. By 1904, she had accepted a position as a medical missionary in northwest India and was registered as a Medical Missionary of the United Free Church in Rajputana, modern day Rajasthan in India.

Sources

Other Online Resources

Printed Materials

  • David A. Sutton 'The public-private interface of domiciliary medical care for the poor in Scotland, c. 1875-1911' - Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Glasgow, 2009
  • The College Courant, Vol.22, No.44, Whitsun 1970

Archival Materials

  • DC183/11/31 General Council Register
  • R3/1/1 Registers of dates of birth of graduates
  • R8/5/15/10 Glasgow University Matriculation Slips for Women from 1894-1895
  • SEN10/36

Summary

Jessie Hawkesworth Smith
Born 14 December 1870.
Died 22 July 1969.
GU Degree: MB ChB, 1897; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences,
University Link: Alumnus, Graduate
Occupation categories: missionaries; physicians
English snippet: Medical graduate of the University of Glasgow, Medical Missionary in India
Record last updated: 21st Jan 2013

Country Associations

Japan Japan, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki
Place of Birth

Scotland Scotland, Sanquhar
Place of Death

India India, Rajasthan

University Connections

University Roles