'Lady Doctor among the "Called"': Dr Letitia Fairfield and Catholic medico-legal activism beyond the bar. Issue 4 (6th June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Harris, Alana
• Is Part Of: Women's history review. Volume 29:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 696
• Page End: 715
• Publication Date: 2020-06-06
• Subjects: Letitia Fairfield -- Middle Temple -- London County Council -- medicine -- Catholicism; Women -- History -- Periodicals; 305.4
• DOI: 10.1080/09612025.2019.1702789
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0961-2025

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Dr Letitia Fairfield's admission to Middle Temple in 1923 is usually a footnote in descriptions of her trailblazing career as a public health official and Catholic controversialist. Yet while she did not practise as a barrister, her legal formation, powers of oratory and fascination with jurisprudence were enduring legacies in a long and illustrious career. Whether providing intellectual resources to tackle the Eugenics Society or practical tools to adjudicate the relationship between remedial medicine and the State, Fairfield's legal ethics were founded on her interpretation of the Judeo-Christian roots of the English common law. In her enduring jurisprudential commitment to the rights and dignity of the individual, Fairfield's call to the bar was another aspect of her feminism and lifelong pursuit of the politics of conscience.