Margaret Williamson Menzies CampbellFDSFRCSE was a Scottish surgeon and general practitioner, who is known for her work as an historian of women's medical education and practice and dentistry.
A month after her graduation, she was appointed as a house surgeon at Doncaster Royal Infirmary in August 1918. She was the first woman to hold this post at the institution. One of her cases made the newspapers, showcasing the pressure the medical profession was under at the time, when a young woman, Elizabeth Pawson, died suddenly "whilst under an anaesthetic, during an operation for appendicitis". Shirlaw had operated alone, except for a nurse - Sister Florence Milnes - who had administered the anaesthetic. During the inquest, Shirlaw explained that this situation was unusual, but was "owing to the shortage of doctors and the influenza epidemic". Shirlaw testified that she had performed "between 200 and 400 operations since her appointment" in August 1918. The Coroner felt that he could not rule on the case entirely by himself, and called for a jury to attend on 18 March 1919. They heard from Dr Reginald Wilson, a member of the honorary medical staff at the Infirmary, that performing the operation alone was "against the rules of the Infirmary in normal times, and against general practice". Dr Cleresby Wilson, another doctor, and also the hospital administrator, restated that the lack of doctors available to help Shirlaw was due to the war during his testimony. The jury ruled that Pawson's death had been due to her poor overall health. They added a rider that no blame should be attached to Shirlaw, nor any of the other hospital staff, but suggested that in future a medical practitioner be called in to administer the anaesthetic. She continued to work in Doncaster for another two years, when she returned to Glasgow and joined her aunt, Marion Gilchrist, in general practice, based at 5 Buckingham Terrace She is also listed at this time as working at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow as a surgeon. She researched and wrote histories of women's medical education and practice in Scotland. She founded a Menzies Campbell lecture series, similar to the one started by her husband at the RCSEngFaculty of Dental Surgery at each of the three Scottish dental schools - Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh.
Personal life
She married John Menzies Campbell, a dentist also based in Buckingham Terrace, on the 23 December 1924 at St. George's Presbyterian Church, Darlington. Campbell was a collector or dental implements and an historian of dentistry. After their marriage, Margaret became his partner in this interest, and maintained it even after his death. She died in 1990.
