William Edward Fothergill (4 October 1865 – 4 November 1926)[2] was professor of clinical obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Manchester.

[1] She was an artist like Fothergill and from Chelsea who enjoyed painting landscapes particularly in the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

In 1897 Fothergill was awarded the Doctor of Medicine again achieving a First-class honours[4] along with the gold medal, with a thesis titled The Ultimate Fate of Placental Tissue retained in Utero,[5] winning the Milner-Fothergill Gold Medal for Contribution to Therapeutics,[4] specifically investigating The Use of the Senecios in Disorders of Menstruation.

[1] At the end of his study, Fothergill decided to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology but after examining Edinburgh for opportunities for advancement and establishment of a consulting practice, he found it to be too overcrowded with the medical profession.

[4] Fothergill was appointed to his first medical position in Manchester in 1899 at the Northern Hospital for Women and Children and also in 1899 was appointed as the first director of the clinical laboratory at Manchester Royal Infirmary[1] and was responsible for bringing the laboratory into existence[3] holding the directorship until 1905.

[7] The procedure he developed became known as the Manchester repair and originally consisted of an anterior colporrhaphy, amputation of the cervix, followed by a posterior colpoperineorrhaphy.