Margaret Louden was a former consultant surgeon at South London Hospital for Women and Children. She was born on 6 April 1910 in Palmers Green. She attended St Paul's School, from which she was admitted to the London School of Medicine for Women (now the Royal Free) in 1928, with exhibitions from St Dunstan's Foundation, London University and St Paul's School. She worked under Sir Heneage Ogilvie as a registrar at Guy's Hospital, and was appointed consultant to the South London Hospital for Women and Children. During the war, she treated soldiers and pilots, as well as civilians, under great pressure. She rediscovered the crush syndrome, its mechanism and successful treatment, but never published her work. Latterly, she struggled to save the hospital from closure and she subsequently worked as a locum at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital until her retirement in 1977. Margaret was talented in both music and art, and at school she captained the cricket and swimming teams. She combined technical skill with psychological insight and she took infinite pains in everything she did. She would undertake cases thought hopeless, but only operated when she deemed it absolutely necessary. She was a very good-looking woman. She married first, in 1937, Derek Martin, museum curator at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and secondly, in 1962, Bernard Simpson, a consultant engineer. She left two daughters by her first marriage and three grandchildren. She died on 11 December 1998.