Background
Webb was the foster daughter daughter of the Review Charles Thomas Ovenden and his wife Isabella Mary Robinson. She was born in Dublin on the 16 October 1877.
Webb was the foster daughter daughter of the Review Charles Thomas Ovenden and his wife Isabella Mary Robinson. She was born in Dublin on the 16 October 1877.
Webb attended Alexandra College, Dublin, later continuing her education in Queen"s College, London and subsequently University of Göttingen, then entering the Catholic University of Ireland.
William and Edith were embroiled in a scandalous divorce case in New Zealand, and custody of the child was given to Charles. She died aged 68 in 1946. Webb was lady district superintendent in the Alexandra College Street John Ambulance Brigade in Ireland from 1914, and was on duty during the Easter Rising.
During the conflict she set up an emergency hospital at the War Supply Depot, run by the Brigade in a building at 40 Merrion Square to deal with the wounded.
Foreign her bravery during this time she was made a Lady of Grace of the Order of Street John of Jerusalem (1916), and later awarded an Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire (1918). Webb became focused on the treatment of childhood ailments, particularly those relating to poor diet and hygiene, reporting on the high mortality rate in children under one in Dublin.
Webb is acknowledged as one of the first modern social workers in Ireland, then known as almoners. In 1925 she founded the Children"s Sunshine Home for convalescents in Stillorgan, Company
Dublin with help from Overend women.
The Home initially specialised in treating children with rickets. Webb was physician in Street Ultan"s Infant Hospital, founded by Kathleen Lynn and Madeleine ffrench-Mullen from 1929 to 1946. She was elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, and was awarded Master of Arts (jure officii).
The General Medicine and Cardiology ward in Adelaide Hospital is named in her honour.
Webb was also the subject of a portrait by Seán Keating at the Golden Jubilee of the Easter Rising Exhibition in 1966 at the National Gallery of Ireland.
In 1918, Webb was appointed anaesthetist in Adelaide Hospital, making her the first female member of staff