Eleanor Sproull

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Eleanor Sproull
Born
Eleanor Rosina Sproull

(1867-09-22)22 September 1867
Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland
DiedOctober 1958(1958-10-00) (aged 91)
Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex, UK
Education
OccupationPhysician

Eleanor Rosina Sproull (22 September 1867 – October 1958) was an Irish physician and later nun of the Sisters of Mercy.[1][2][3][4] Sproull was one of the first female physicians of the Victorian era.[2]

Early life and education

Sproull was born on 22 September 1867 in the Scotch Quarter of Carrickfergus, County Antrim to William Henry Sproull, a solicitor, and Jane Sproull (née Berney).[2][3][5] One of 15 siblings, Sproull was raised in the Church of Ireland.[2][3]

Initially studying at the Royal University of Ireland in Belfast, Sproull enrolled at the Edinburgh College of Medicine for Women in 1895.[1][3] Graduating with her MD ChB in 1900, Sproull later enrolled at the University of Edinburgh.[1][3][6] Sproull graduated with her MD in 1908, with a thesis entitled Infantile mortality. A short account of preventive measures in six Yorkshire towns: a general discussion of its causes and best means of prevention..[1][3][6]

Career

Sproull worked as a school medical officer in Bromley during 1909 to 1911, and in Castleford from 1912 to 1921.[1][7][8][9][10][11] During this period Sproull suffered from bouts of depression, and in her letters to former classmate Agnes Bennett she detailed her feelings of isolation.[1] Sproull's letters to Bennett also her reflect her deeply felt spirituality, and in a 1910 letter she laments that ‘‘I have not yet found the man clerical who when he begins to talk to a woman on such subjects doesn’t ... talk down to her’’.[1]

From 1922 to 1933, Sproull lived at the House of Mercy in Horbury.[12][13][14] In 1934, Sproull relocated to Laleham Abbey and was registered as a nun of the Sisters of Mercy in the 1939 register.[2][4][15]

Personal life

Sproull was a close friend of her former classmate Agnes Bennett, with whom she wrote monthly letters.[1]

In October 1958, Sproull died in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex (present-day Surrey) aged 91, and was buried at All Saints' Church Laleham on 4 November 1958.[16][17]

References

  1. Brookes, Barbara (2008). "A Corresponding Community: Dr Agnes Bennett and her Friends from the Edinburgh Medical College for Women of the 1890s". Medical History. 52 (2): 237–256. doi:10.1017/S0025727300002374. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  2. "Our Town, Our Stories: Shining a Light on Local Heritage: Dr. Eleanor Sproull's Story Uncovered". Positive Carrickfergus. Carrickfergus. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  3. Jeffery, Roger (2025). "No.1261 Sproull, Eleanor Rosina". Women who qualified as medical doctors in the United Kingdom, 1877–1914 [dataset]. Edinburgh: School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh. doi:10.7488/ds/7909. Retrieved 20 June 2026 – via Edinburgh Datashare.
  4. "Eleanor R Sproull". 1939 Register; Middlesex; Staines; Ud Brbp. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1939.
  5. "Eleanor Rosina Sproull". Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620–1911 [database online]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1867.
  6. Sproull, Eleanor Rosina (April 1908). Infantile mortality. A short account of preventive measures in six Yorkshire towns: a general discussion of its causes and best means of prevention. University of Edinburgh (Doctor of Medicine thesis). Edinburgh: Edinburgh Research Archive. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  7. Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review. Vol. 73. 1909. p. 373. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  8. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1909. p. 1575 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  9. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1909. p. 1575 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  10. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1912. p. 1498 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  11. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1921. p. 999 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  12. {The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1922. p. 1026 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  13. "Eleanor Rosina Sproull". Electoral Rolls; Rothwell, West Yorkshire; 1929. Leeds: West Yorkshire Archive Service: 52. 1929.
  14. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1933. p. 1285 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  15. The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council. 1934. p. 1301 – via Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Heritage Centre.
  16. "Eleanor R Sproull [death index]". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes; Middlesex; Middlesex South. 5f (Q4). London: General Register Office: 52.
  17. "No.735 Eleanor Rosina Sproull". London Church of England Parish Registers; Parishes Not in A Borough; All Saints, Laleham: Laleham Village, Surrey; 1891–1963. London: The London Archives: 92. 1958.