Marion Gilchrist (5 February 1864 – 7 September 1952) was the first female graduate of the University of Glasgow, one of the first two women to qualify in medicine from a Scottish university; and a leading activist in the Women's suffrage Movement in Scotland. In recognition of her achievements she has been honoured in a number of ways. Early life and education Gilchrist was born on 5 February 1864 at Bothwell Park farm, the youngest child of Margaret and William Gilchrist, a prosperous tenant farmer. She had four older siblings: three brothers, John, William and Douglas, and one sister, Agnes. Her brother was the Scottish agriculturalist Douglas Alston Gilchrist. Her earlier education was at the local parish church when she was around seven years old. She met with some challenges in her education because her father and brother Douglas thought it pointless that she studied academic subjects. However, her brother John gave her encouragement and she attended Bothwell Primary School and Hamilton Academy. In 1887, Gilchrist matriculated at Queen Margaret College, University of Glasgow, as an arts student and having begun the examinations while at Queen Margaret College, she attained LLA (Lady Literature in Arts), awarded by the University of St Andrews in 1890. In the same year, she enrolled at the new Queen Margaret College Medical School. In July 1894, Gilchrist and Alice Robson became the first two women to graduate from University of Glasgow, and the first women to qualify in medicine at a Scottish university. They graduated MB and CM. While at university, Gilchrist was Vice-President of the Queen Margaret College Student Union, Vice-President of the Literary and Debating Society and Convener of the Queen Margaret College Committee of the Glasgow University Liberal Club. On 22 January 1894, she was elected President of the Women Students' Representative Council at its first meeting at Queen Margaret College. Career Medical career After graduation, Gilchrist entered general practice, and following the death of her father in 1903 set up her own practice at 5 Buckingham Terrace, Glasgow, remaining at that address for the rest of her life. Her niece, Margaret Menzies Campbell, also worked with her at Buckingham Terrace. Specialising in ophthalmology, Gilchrist was appointed Assistant Surgeon for Diseases of the Eye at the Glasgow Victoria Infirmary, a post she held from 1914 to 1930. In 1927, she was also appointed as an ophthalmic surgeon at Redlands Hospital for Women,