Helen Evans

Helen de Lacey Evans (née Helen Carter; b. 1833/4) was the fifth member of the Edinburgh Seven, a group of women who enrolled at the University of Edinburgh in 1869, and who sought to qualify as physicians. She subsequently married the editor of the Scotsman, Alexander Russel. She was also the mother of the suffragist and feminist campaigner Helen Archdale.

Helen Carter was born in Athy, Ireland in either 1833 or 1834, one of seven children. Her parents were Helen Gray and Major Henry Carter, 73rd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry.

Helen married a cavalry officer Henry John Delacy Evans of the Bengal Horse Artillery Regiment in 1854 in Simla, India. Together they had a daughter, Helen, who died in infancy in 1857. Helen was widowed prior to her enrolment at Edinburgh in 1869.

In 1869 Helen joined a group of women, led by Sophia Jex-Blake, who became known as the Edinburgh Seven; seven women who sought to earn a degree in medicine at Edinburgh University. They were the first women undergraduates in any British university.

She proved to be an able student and with other members of the group she passed her matriculation examinations with flying colours.

In November 1871 she married Alexander Russel editor of the Scotsman Newspaper, a strong supporter of Sophia Jex-Blake and the women medical students. Once married Helen did not complete her studies but her link with Edinburgh continued and she remained friends with Sophia.

Helen was active in promoting the care of women by women doctors. She also took a keen interest in education being "one of the first lady members of St. Andrews School Board, a position she held for 15 years".(Edinburgh Evening News, 5th Oct 1903). In addition to this she was a member of the council for St Leonards School for girls (now co-ed).

In July 1876 her husband Alexander died suddenly from a heart attack leaving her with three children and was unable to return to study.

When Sophia Jex-Blake began the process of founding another medical school for women in Edinburgh, Helen, together with Dr. G. Balfour, Dr. Agnes McLaren, Mr. Miller- White, Dr. Heron Watson and Ursula Du Pre, formed an executive committee to find suitable premises.

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