Background
Helen Carter was born in Athy, Ireland in either 1833 or 1834, one of seven children Her parents were Helen Gray and Major Henry Carter, 73rd Regiment Bengal Native Infantry.
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Helen Evans
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University of Edinburgh.
Career
She was also the mother of the suffragist and feminist campaigner Helen Alexander Archdale. Helen married a cavalry officer Henry John Delacy Evans of the Bengal Horse Artillery regiment in 1854 in Simla, India. Together they had a daughter, Helen, who died in infancy in 1857.
Helen was widowed prior to her enrolment at Edinburgh in 1869.
In 1869 Helen joined a group of women, led by Sophia Jex-Blake, who became known as the Edinburgh Seven. Seven women who sought to earn a degree in medicine at Edinburgh University.
They were the first women undergraduates in any British university. Once married Helen did not complete her studies but her link with Edinburgh continued and she remained friends with Sophia.
Helen was active in promoting the care of women by women doctors.
When Sophia Jex-Blake began the process of founding another medical school for women in Edinburgh, Helen, together with Doctor G. Balfour, Doctor Agnes McLaren, Mr. MillerWhite, Doctor Heron Watson and Ursula Du Pre, formed an executive committee to find suitable premises. The hospital was the only one in Edinburgh to offer medical and surgical care to women by women doctors.
lieutenant provided privacy, a homely atmosphere and care to women who were unable to afford private nursing home fees.
Helen died in Street Andrews, Scotland, 4 October 1903 after a surgical procedure. Alexander Russel (1832–1915), 2nd Husband, Editor of the Scotsman Newspaper
Helen Archdale, (1876- 1949) Daughter, Feminist and writer
Michael Russel, (1874-1900) Son.
Membership
She proved to be an able student and with other members of the group she passed her matriculation examinations with flying colours. She also took a keen interest in education being "one of the first lady members of Saint Andrews School Board, a position she held for 15 years".(Edinburgh Evening News, 5th October 1903). In addition to this she was a member of the council for Street Leonards School for girls (now co-ed).
