Dictionary of Sydney
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  4. Biffin, Harriet Eliza

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Biffin, Harriet Eliza

Medical practioner who was one of the first women medical graduates in the state. She worked tirelessly for the establishment of a hospital run for and by women.

Milestone
Born
Sydney
1867
Died
Lindfield
22 Sep 1939
Buried
Northern Suburbs Crematorium
23 Sep 1939
Occupation
Medical practitioner
Position
Member
Sydney University Ladies Lawn Tennis Club
Student
University of Sydney
1889 - 1898
Founder
Medical Women's Society of New South Wales
1921
Founder
Rachel Forster Hospital
1922
Relationship
Child of
Biffin, Eliza
Child of
Biffin, James
Business partner
Wood, Ellen Maud
1900 - 1907

Biffin, Harriett Eliza

CC BY-SA 2.0
by
Vanessa Witton
,
2018

Harriett Biffin was a pioneer Sydney woman doctor. One of the second group of women to graduate in medicine at the University of Sydney in 1898, she was the first to establish a women’s joint medical practice in Sydney and a suburban general medical practice, and founded both The Medical Women’s Society of New South Wales and the Rachel Forster Hospital with Dr Lucy Edith Gullett.

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