Person    | Female  Born 19/2/1919  Died 18/12/2000

Betty Westgate

Categories: Medicine

Health campaigner. When diagnosed with breast cancer, she was dismayed at the lack of information and support for sufferers of the disease. This led her to found the charity which was to become Breast Cancer Care. In the 1970s, before breast reconstruction became widespread, post-operative women were advised to stuff handkerchiefs, cotton wool, or even tights into their bras. This spurred her to design the 'Cumfie', which was soft, washable and spin-dryable.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Betty Westgate

Commemorated ati

Betty Westgate

Betty Westgate MBE, 1919 - 2000, a pioneer and campaigner for breast cancer s...

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Other Subjects

Evelina Hospital for Sick Children

Evelina Hospital for Sick Children

The Evelina Children's Hospital was founded by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and named for his wife, who had died aged 27 with her child in labour in 1866. It was planned by Dr Arthur Farre in a pu...

Group, Children, Medicine

2 memorials
Broderip Ward

Broderip Ward

Ward in the former Middlesex Hospital, dedicated to the treatment of patients suffering from HIV/AIDS. When the epidemic began in the early 1980s, there was much misunderstanding about the nature ...

Place, Medicine

1 memorial
G. W. Kendall, MD, BCH

G. W. Kendall, MD, BCH

Assistant Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, No. 1 District, 1911-1942. Officer in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Andrew Marshall
1 memorial

Previously viewed

World War 1

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

403 memorials
Nelson Hospital

Nelson Hospital

Originally known as the South Wimbledon, Merton and District Cottage Hospital. It opened with six beds and two cots. It was renamed in 1905 to commemorate the centenary of Nelson's victory at the B...

Building, Medicine

1 memorial
Great Fire of London

Great Fire of London

Started on a Sunday morning. After 4 days the destruction included: - an area of one and a half miles by a half mile - 87 churches - 13,200 houses - only 6 people are recorded as having died (but ...

Event, Tragedy

55 memorials
War Memorial at Paddington Station

War Memorial at Paddington Station

W2, Departures Road, Paddington Station, Platform 1

The statue represents a soldier. To the left, in the cream marble, is a carved relief of an anchor with ropes, representing the navy and ...

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Mrs Gamp

Mrs Gamp

One of Charles Dickens' characters from Martin Chuzzlewit.

Fiction, Fictional

2 memorials