Hilda Rose DBE (1909)

For most of her time at KEHS Hilda thought she would go on to be a nurse, but Miss Creak had other ideas - Hilda should be a doctor. She sent Hilda to Birmingham Medical School where she graduated first with a B.Sc., then an M.B. and finally a Ch.B in 1916. No branch of medicine was easy for a woman to enter at the time, but surgery was certainly the most difficult. Against the odds and the open prejudice, Hilda became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1921.

During the next thirty years, Hilda made herself quite the reputation in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Her talent became well known. In 1944, she was appointed Professor and later retired from practice to be the first full time chair, when her talent for teaching became immediately apparent. In 1949, she was elected President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - the first woman to preside over any of the Royal Colleges. Her unique talents were recognised in 1959 when she was named a Dame of the British Empire.

In later life, Hilda and her husband retired to Ross-on-Wye where they spent many years enjoying rural life.