Pioneering Exeter doctor is honoured

Dr Margaret Jackson transformed family planning in Devon and beyond

Exeter Civic Society unveiled a blue plaque to commemorate pioneering doctor Margaret Jackson last month.

Dr Jackson, who lived from 1898 to 1987, worked in Exeter for more than 50 years in family planning and fertility treatment, helping to lay the foundations for treatment that has been of enormous significance in the lives of people, especially women, around the world.

There are still people in Exeter and around the country who remember with gratitude the help the Crediton doctor gave them, particularly over fertility problems.

Dr Jackson’s son Mark unveiled the plaque at 4 Barnfield Hill, where her clinic was when it was run by the Family Planning Association.

Many members of the Jackson family were also present, as was city MP Steve Race, who spoke at the ceremony.

Afterwards an audience of more than 60 people heard talks about Dr Jackson and her impact.

Dr Jackson was a pioneer in many respects. One of the few women to qualify as a doctor soon after the First World War, she and her husband moved to Crediton as GPs in 1924. In 1930, she started as the first medical officer at the Exeter & District Women’s Welfare Association clinic in Sidwell Street, providing contraceptive services to women ‘of limited means’ – the first such clinic to be set up in the South West, and one of the first nationally.

Contraception was a controversial subject in the 1920s, with opponents and supporters nationally and locally. But the challenges and heartaches that many women and families faced were great – as many as one in 15 Exeter babies were dying in their first year and women could experience many pregnancies in consecutive years, often with grave health impacts.

Dr Jackson saw the need and was not deterred. She rapidly expanded the service in Devon, including attending the market in an old converted ambulance to provide advice and treatment discreetly to farmers’ wives. Finding that a good number of her patients were troubled by failure to conceive rather than a need for contraceptives, and with the help of Clare Harvey of the University of Exeter, Dr Jackson developed a service to investigate and treat infertility, including donor-assisted conception. It was one of the first in the country and was even more controversial than birth control. The service was a great success.

Dr Jackson gathered around her a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, some of whom were present at the unveiling. Notable among them was Professor Bob Snowden of the University of Exeter who worked with Dr Jackson from 1965 and gave a talk after the unveiling about his time with her and the impact she had.

She helped to found the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1952, which now operates in over 145 countries.