Bale, Dr Rosa, 24 Portland Square, Plymouth
Rosa Elizabeth Bale (1864–1941) was born at Westacott, Landkey, Barnstaple, on 25 April 1864, the eldest of the three children of Samuel Bale, a farmer, nurseryman and seed merchant, and his wife Mary Jane.
No information has been found regarding Bale’s early education but by the time of the 1891 census she was recorded as a medical student.[1] She undertook her professional training at the London School of Medicine for Women and obtained the Scottish triple qualification[2] of Lic. R. Coll Phys Edin, 1892; Lic R Coll Surg. 1892; Lic Fac Phys. Surg. Glasg. 1892.[3] She moved to Plymouth in March 1895 where she established her medical practice, becoming the first woman to practise medicine to the west of Bristol.[4]
In addition to her medical practice she took an active part in the civic life of the town and by 1900 she was elected to the Plymouth School Board, only the third woman to serve in that capacity after Miss Kate Radford and Miss Emily Sophia Spooner.[5] She remained an active member of the School Board and later the Plymouth Education Authority in which capacity she advocated for better higher-grade education for girls[6] and the promotion of health measures, particularly around reducing the incidence of tuberculosis.[7]
In her medical work Bale was interested in services for women and children, worked to improve midwifery services through her teaching for the Three Towns Nursing Association, and was especially concerned with the provision of mental health services. She was a member of the Plymouth Voluntary Association for Mental Welfare[8] and in 1926 was appointed Visitor of Licensed Houses under the Mental Deficiency Act 1913.[9] She was a member of the British Medical Association and of the Medical Women’s Federation, serving as President of the South West Association.[10] She also became a member of the Plymouth Medical Society in October 1919.[11] She was extremely supportive of other women doctors, encouraging Dr Mabel Ramsay (q.v.) to set up her own practice in Plymouth in 1908.[12] When Dr Ramsay was serving under the Women’s National Service Unit at Antwerp and with the Belgian Red Cross in 1914, Bale acted as locum tenens for her. She was a member of, and fundraiser for, the Women’s Hospital Fund Committee.[13]
As a non-conformist of strong religious principles Bale took part in the Passive Resistance movement against the education rate imposed under the 1902 Education Act. She was taken to court ‘year by year’ so a piece of furniture could be distrained and auctioned to pay her rates.[14]
A member of the Plymouth Women’s Liberal Association, Bale attended and spoke at meetings.[15] She was a non-militant supporter of women’s suffrage and on its formation joined the Three Towns branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, attending, speaking at and presiding over meetings, and providing financial support.[16]
She was a member of the Ebenezer Wesleyan Chapel, holding various offices[17], and her religious convictions led her to hold a weekly women’s Bible class at her home. She was a supporter of total abstinence and was President of the Plymouth National British Women’s Total Abstinence Union[18] and subscribed to many of the Temperance League’s campaigns.[19] Bale supported many organisations engaged in mission work. She was involved with the Women’s Methodist Missionary Society,[20] the Devon and Cornwall Seamen’s and Boatmen’s Friend Society,[21] the Plymouth Girls’ Evening Club,[22] and the Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Female Penitentiary and Plymouth Female Home.[23] She was a Member of the Plymouth Council of Social Services[24] and actively involved in the campaigns for the appointment of women police officers, which she saw as a moral issue.[25]
At the start of the Second World War, Bale, then aged 75 and largely retired from general medical practice, was still active in many of her social causes. She refused to leave her Plymouth home, saying that as the Education Authority had not evacuated the City’s schoolchildren she could not leave those for whom she worked and prove herself a coward.[26] However, after her home was seriously damaged by enemy action during the Blitz, she returned to her family home at Barnstaple to live with her brother and sister. She died there on 3 November 1941 aged 77 after a brief illness.[27]
Entry created by Ann Bond, January 2019
[1] 1891 Census of England and Wales
[2] BMJ, 22 Nov 1941, 755
[3] Medical Register for 1895, p.138. London, General Medical Council
[4] BMJ, 22 Nov 1941, 755
[5] Western Morning News, 30 Nov 1892 & 14 Feb 1895.
[6] Western Morning News, 27 Feb 1901.
[7] Western Morning News, 27 Jun 1900.
[8] Western Morning News, 23 Jun 1934; 5 Dec 1936; 1 Oct 1937; 26 Jul 1938.
[9] Western Morning News, 11 October 1926.
[10] BMJ, 22 November 1941, p. 755.
[11] Plymouth Medical Society Minute Book. Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, 1670/6.
[12] Ramsay, M.L. A Doctor’s Zig-Zag Road.
[13] Western Morning News, 25 Feb 1908.
[14] BMJ, 22 Nov 1941, 755.
[15] Western Morning News, 22 Feb 1908.
[16] Western Morning News, 9 Jul 1910; 20 Nov 1911; 24 Nov 1911.
[17] North Devon Journal, (NDJ) 6 Nov 1941.
[18] North Devon Journal, 28 May 1931; Western Morning News, 17 Feb 1940.
[19] For example Western Morning News, 16 Jun 1931.
[20] Western Morning News, 15 Nov 1929.
[21] Western Morning News, 5 Mar 1935.
[22] Western Morning News, 21 Apr 1934.
[23] Western Morning News, 9 Mar 1923; 3 Mar 1933.
[24] Western Morning News, 13 Feb 1925.
[25] Western Morning News, 19 Nov 1925.
[26] BMJ, 22 Nov 1941, 755.
[27] Western Morning News, 4 Nov 1941.