Blue plaque unveiled for first woman dentist
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- Published: Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:13
- Written by News Editor
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Lilian was the third of eleven children born to parents James and Margaret Murray. After winning a scholarship to the North London Collegiate School she rejected the encouragement of her head teacher to become involved in the teaching of deaf children, instead commencing a three-year apprenticeship with a dentist.
After passing the preliminary examination for registration as a dental student, she applied to enter the National Dental Hospital and School on London’s Great Portland Street. Her application was refused on grounds of gender though, and it was suggested that she instead apply to the Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School.
Her application to Edinburgh was accepted and she qualified in 1895. As well as practising, she took an active interest in dental politics and the advancement of the dental profession and oral health. She supported her husband, Robert, who she had met in Edinburgh, in becoming the first Dental Secretary to the British Dental Association in 1919.
After the couple had retired from practice she dedicated her energies to the establishment of the BDA’s Library and Museum and published an array of papers. Following Robert’s death she served for more than twenty years as Sub Editor for the British Dental Journal and became the first female BDA President in 1946.
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