Ethel Bentham, (5 January 1861 – 19 January 1931) was a progressive doctor, a politician and a suffragist in the United Kingdom. She was born in London, educated at Alexandra School and College in Dublin, the London School of Medicine for Women and the Rotunda Hospital. Early life and education Bentham was born in London, to William Bentham, an inspector and later general manager of the Standard Life Assurance Company, and Mary Ann Hammond. She was raised in Dublin, where her father was a Justice of the peace. Bentham made charitable trips with her mother to the city's slums, which inspired her to become a doctor. She trained at the London School of Medicine for Women from 1890–1893, gaining a certificate in medicine. In 1894, she qualified in midwifery at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin and received further training at hospitals in Paris and Brussels, where she received an M.D. in 1895. Career Medical career Bentham worked in London hospitals for a short time, before entering general practice in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead with Dr Ethel Williams, the first female doctor in the city, and a radical suffragist. In 1900, she was a member of the executive committee of the Newcastle branch of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), and joined the Labour Party in 1902, the Fabian Society in 1907, and the Fabian Women's Group in 1908. In 1907, she stood as the Labour Party candidate in a by-election in the Westgate South ward of Newcastle. In 1908, she attended the Fourth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, in Amsterdam. Bentham was active in pursuing NUWSS support for a joint Suffrage-Labour Parliamentary candidate, a campaign which in 1912 resulted in the creation of the Election Fighting Fund. In 1909, Bentham moved to London, where she lived with Marion Phillips in Holland Park, her home serving as a meeting place for like-minded women. She established a practice in North Kensington and was an expert on childhood enuresis (bedwetting) and an early believer in what would now be called socialised medicine. In 1911, Bentham was a driving force behind the establishment of a mother and baby clinic in North Kensington, founded by the Women's Labour League in memorial to Margaret MacDonald and Mary Middleton. The clinic was the first in the country to provide medical treatment alongside advice. Bentham served as the clinic's chief medical officer, and benefactor,