Charlotte Ferguson-Davie


Charlotte Elizabeth Ferguson-Davie was a British physician and the founder of the St. Andrew's Medical Mission and the St. Andrew Mission Hospital, the first women's and children's clinic in Singapore.

Biography

Ferguson-Davie was born in Essex, the daughter of Irish geologist Edward Hull, and she went on to become a medical doctor. In 1902, she married the Anglican Right Reverend Charles James Ferguson-Davie. Ferguson-Davie and her husband came to Singapore in 1909. Prior to coming to Singapore, she had worked in India as a medical missionary.
In 1913, she helped create the St. Andrew Medical Mission in order to help care for the "poor and disadvantaged." She opened a second clinic in 1914. In 1921, she published a book, In Rubber Lands: An Account of the Work of the Church in Malaya.
In 1923, she created the first women's and children's clinic in Singapore, named the St. Andrew's Mission Hospital. She was able to obtain the land and get architects to work for her for almost "nothing." The next year, in 1924, Ferguson-Davie expanded the services that SAMH provided, including a venereal disease clinic. Ferguson-Davie set up training classes, teaching nursing and midwifery.
Ferguson-Davie became an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1927 and in the same year, retired. She and her husband then moved to South Africa, where he worked at Fort Hare College. Ferguson-Davie died in 1943.

Legacy

Ferguson-Davie was recognized for her medical work during the St. Andrew's Cathedral's Thanksgiving service in 2013. In 2014, she was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame.