Lillias Hamilton

Lillias Anna Hamilton was born on 7 February 1858 at Tomabil station, New South Wales, Australia. She was the eldest of four daughters and the third of the eight children of Hugh Hamilton (1822-1900) and Margaret Clunes (1829–1909). Her father was a farmer from Ayrshire, Scotland, and her mother was the daughter of George Innes of Yarrow, New South Wales. Little is known about Lillias's childhood except that she was two when the family left Australia and settled, nominally, in Ayr, Scotland. The Hamilton's continued to travel until they moved to Cheltenham in 1874. Lillias attended the Ladies' College of Cheltenham for four years. Hamilton began to travel and even worked as a teacher, but in 1883, she began training as a nurse at the Liverpool workhouse infirmary. Despite much prejudice against female physicians practising in Europe, there was a substantial need for female doctors in India, as religious custom and practice deprived many women of proper medical care. Hamilton had met Colonel Joubert of the Indian Medical Service, and he introduced her to the opportunity of working abroad. Hamilton acquired her medical degree in Brussels and promptly left for Calcutta. ==Career==

Most other foreign women doctors in the country received help from government appointment or support of any missionary or philanthropic society, but Hamilton established a successful private medical practice with help only from Colonel Joubert. She held the post of medical officer at the Lady Dufferin Hospital|Lady Dufferin Zenana [Women's] Hospital in Calcutta. Her career changed drastically in the spring of 1894 when she moved to Kabul, Afghanistan. In terms of her medical work, Hamilton made a significant impact on the health of the Afghan population. Not only did she establish a hospital in Kabul, but she was also responsible for introducing vaccination into the country. == Personal life and death ==

Hamilton was claimed to be a highly accomplished and talented photographer and needlewoman, and also enjoyed music, painting, and the theatre. Hamilton never married. She died on 6 January 1925 at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Nice, France, and was buried in the English cemetery on the Saturday after her death. ==Gallery==

File:Lillias Hamilton 1920 pass.jpg|1920 passport photo File:Lillias Hamilton with family.jpg|Hamilton with family File:Lillias Hamilton grave.jpg|Hamilton's grave File:Lillias Hamilton (ca. 1857-1925), physician. Oil painting by Wellcome L0028684.jpg|alt=Woman stood in red academic robes trimmed with grey, holding a Tudor bonnet.|Oil painting of Lillias Hamilton painted by James Peter Quinn File:Dr Hamilton examining a child's eyes Wellcome L0025488.jpg|alt=Woman in 19th century British dress stood amongst people in Afghanistan dress. She is positioned beside a doorway, and is examining the eye of a child.|Hamilton examining a child's eyes in Kabul == Further reading ==