Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake (1865-1925) was one of the first Englis women to enter the world of medicine. Aldrich-Blake was devoted to training students of the Royal Free Hospital's School of Medicine for Women, her own alma mater. She became Dean of the School in 1914. At the Royal Free Hospital, she was the first woman to hold the post of surgical registrar and also acted as an anesthetist. During the First World War, many of the male surgical staff were deployed on foreign active service and Dr Aldrich-Blake took on increased responsibility for the surgery, becoming consulting surgeon to the hospital. She was the first to perform operations for cancers of the cervix and rectum. In 1924 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died in 1925 at the age of 59/60 from undisclosed causes.