ABSTRACT
Early in January 1861 Elizabeth returned to Manchester Square to be present at the birth of the niece and god-daughter who became another link in the chain binding her to Louisa. The child Dorothea never forgot the devotion she witnessed between her mother and her aunt. To Elizabeth Garrett’s surprise and regret, however, Maurice strongly disapproved of women in the medical profession. She found it hard to see what his reasons were, since he had always taught that the Christian doctrine of the equal spiritual status of men and women must lead to their equality in society. One of the first public questions he had tackled was the sweated labour of women dressmakers and milliners. One of the medical assistants, whom Elizabeth hardly knew, was seen pitching into the memorialists with a flushed face and an air of great annoyance.
