The Australian Women's Register

Ruth Molphy, who completed her medical training in Brisbane and England, was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to medicine on 20 June 1987. She distinguished herself in the field of anaesthetics and medical administration at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the Prince Charles Hospital Brisbane.

Freda Thompson, a pioneer aviator, was the first Australian woman to fly solo from the United Kingdom to Australia. She completed the journey in a Gypsy Moth Major in 39 days flying time. After qualifying for her private pilot licence in 1930 and her commercial licence two years later in 1932, she became the first woman instructor in the British Empire on gaining her instructor rating in 1933. Finally, in 1934 she obtained the Great Britain Air Ministry Private Pilot Certificate, which enabled her to ‘fly all types of machines’. During the 1930s she became the first woman president of the Royal Victorian Aero Club and was made a life member in 1941. She was a foundation member of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association. Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 for services to aviation.

Margaret McClelland pursued a successful career as an anaesthetist in Melbourne after qualifying in her specialty in London in 1942. She completed her initial medical training at the University of Melbourne in 1931 and took up an appointment as resident medical officer from 1932-1933 and later, medical superintendent, from 1934 at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Melbourne. From there she moved to Sydney in 1936 to assume the position of medical superintendent at the Prince Henry Hospital. During World War II she worked as senior anaesthetist at the Central Middlesex Hospital London from 1941-1946 and returned to Melbourne to work as anaesthetist at the Royal Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospitals. In 1955 she took up the appointment of director of anaesthetics at the Royal Children’s Hospital. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1979 for her services to medicine.

Kathleen Gorham began her classical dancing career with the Borovansky Ballet at the age of fifteen, retaining her association with the Ballet until it finally disbanded in 1960 on the death of Borovansky. She danced with other companies in Paris and London, and in 1962 Kathleen Gorham became prima ballerina of the newly formed Australian Ballet Company. She played an important role in the artistic development of a recognisably Australian ballet company and danced new roles in association with Robert Helpmann. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1968 for her services to ballet. Retiring from dancing after the Australian Ballet’s first overseas tour in 1966, she taught ballet in Melbourne and Southport, Queensland before her death in 1983 at a relatively young age.

Alexandra Margaret Joy, who practiced under the name of Dr Margaret Clark, used her skills as a medical practitioner in remote areas of Western Australia at Lake Grace, where she worked under difficult conditions. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 9 June 1949 for her services to medicine in isolated areas. A short segment in The West Australian of 9 June 1949, stated that ‘she has ministered to isolated patients in a wide area, travelling in all weathers over lonely and difficult roads. She has preferred to remain at Lake Grace rather than move to another centre where the amenities would be much superior’. She was a foundation member of the Lake Grace branch of the Country Women’s Association.

Julie Anthony has gained recognition as one of the most popular entertainers in Australia. She consistently won awards such as Female Variety Performer of the Year, Entertainer of the Year and Most Popular Female Performer during the 1970s and 1980s. She was lead singer in ‘The Seekers’ from 1989-1991 and performed at the 2000 Olympic Games, which were held in Sydney. A versatile performer, she has played the leading role in musicals such as Irene and the Sound of Music. She is particularly appreciated for her performance of the Australian National Anthem, ‘Advance Australia Fair’ at national sporting and other occasions. On 31 December 1979, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to entertainment and in 1989 Member of the Order of Australia.

Winifred Kennan graduated as MB BS from the University of Melbourne in 1920 and specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology. She had a long association with the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital Melbourne as its medical superintendent from 1921-1923 and later as honorary consultant obstetrician. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to medicine on 11 June 1977.

Joan Montgomery was educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC), Melbourne and spent most of her teaching career in private schools in Victoria. She returned to her old school as principal in 1969 and remained there until her retirement in 1985. Her first teaching appointment was at Frensham School, Mittagong New South Wales from 1949-1951 and she spent time in London from 1952-1954 and 1958-1959. She taught also at Tintern Church of England Girls Grammar School, in Ringwood East, from 1955-1957, and was principal of Clyde School Woodend, from 1960-1968, before moving to PLC. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1976 for her services to education.

Jean Conochie forged a successful career in librarianship at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), later the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). She took up her appointment in 1946 and remained there for all her working life, gaining an international reputation as a serials cataloguer and bibliographer. She was responsible for cataloguing standards across the entire CSIRO library network, and for the ongoing compilation of the CSIRO union catalogue. She was an active member of the Library Association of Australia as a member of the Board of Examiners from 1966-1972 and of numerous committees and represented the Association at international conferences. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1977 for public service in the field of science. The Library Association of Australia honoured her with the H.C.L. Anderson Award in 1985 for outstanding service to librarianship in Australia.

During World War I Alice Ross-King (as she was then known) was a Sister in the Australian Army Nursing Service. Mentioned twice in despatches, she was awarded the Military Medal on 28 September 1917 and the Royal Red Cross Medal on the 4 June 1918. She married Lieutenant-Colonel Sydney T Appleford of the Australian Army Medical Corps on 21 August 1919. They had four children. She assisted her husband in establishing a first-aid military unit and during the 1930s became involved with the Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachments. Appleford enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service during World War II. She was promoted to the rank of Major in September 1942 and awarded the Florence Nightingale medal by the International Red Cross in 1949.

Alice Appleford died on 17 August 1968 at Cronulla, Sydney and is buried in Fawkner Cemetery, Melbourne.

Sybil Irving was the founder and Controller of the Australian Women’s Army Service. On 2 January 1939 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for social welfare services in Victoria. Throughout her life Irving was a faithful member of the Church. Her Funeral Service on 30 March 1973, and a Memorial Service on 23 February 1975 were held in Christ Church, South Yarra, Victoria.

Jessie Vasey founded and became President of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia. For her work in the field of social welfare she was the recipient of both the CBE (8 June 1963) and OBE (8 June 1950).

In recognition for her work as a coastwatcher during World War II Ruby Boye was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 25 July 1944. She also received the 1939-1945 Pacific Star and War Medal and was made a Life Member of the WRANS Association. In 1985 the Navy named Boye House, one of the accommodation blocks in the Joint Defence Force Academy at Duntroon, in her honour.

After being educated at the Church of England Girls’ Grammar School (CEGGS) North Sydney, Edith Shaw completed her nurses training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Women’s Hospital (Melbourne) and Tressillian Infant Welfare, Sydney. Shaw nursed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital, London, and was matron of the Melbourne District Nursing Society before joining the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service in 1946. During World War II she was matron of the 2/2 Hospital Ship Wanganella and principal matron of the Victorian Line of Command 1941-1943 and 1943-1946. On 14 June 1945 Lieutenant Colonel Edith Shaw was awarded the Royal Red Cross for her service with the Australian Army Nursing Service in the South West Pacific. Following the war Shaw became lady superintendent at the Alfred Hospital Melbourne (1946-1952) as well as principal matron of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Service Headquarters Southern Command (1950-1952).

Margaret Sutherland’s life’s work as a composer saw her produce over 90 compositions and attain renown as a pioneer of ‘new music’ and of women’s involvement in music. Her only opera – the Young Kabbarli (1964), based on Daisy Bates – was the first Australian opera recorded in Australia.

Sutherland’s work promoting music and the arts included her years (1943-1956) as an initiator, organiser and secretary for the Combined Arts Centre Movement, a group which worked to promote the formation of a cultural centre in Melbourne after World War II, and her membership of many other councils and organising bodies such as the council of the National Gallery Association of Victoria (1950s-1960s).

Recognition of Sutherland’s prolific life as a composer and champion of the Arts in Australia has included an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne (1969), the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), and her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1970 and an Officer of the Order of Australia on 8 June 1981.

Eleanor Bohan progressed from a career in nursing to one in nursing administration, which culminated in her appointment as director of the General Nursing Services Department of Health in Western Australia in 1984. She began her nursing career at the Royal Perth Hospital in 1951. After having nursed in Hobart and Melbourne from 1952-1954, she was appointed matron of Wagin Hospital in Western Australia in 1955. Subsequent appointments as matron included the Collie and Northam Hospitals between 1959 and 1969. She moved to the Western Australian Health Department in 1969 as assistant matron inspections. She was appointed Companion of the Imperial Service Order on 16 June 1979 for her work as nursing director in the Western Australian Medical Department.

With her husband, Thomas Baker, and her sister, Eleanor Shaw, Alice Baker co-financed a major biochemistry laboratory at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, now known as the Baker Institute.

Geraldine Amies, née Collee, completed her dental and medical education in Edinburgh, Scotland before taking up an appointment as physician in charge of the Diabetic Clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne in 1946. An insulin dependent diabetic herself, she was described by F Martin in A history of diabetes in Australia, as ‘a formidable figure who retained her Scottish accent and certainty’. She was committed to the care and management of children with diabetes and promoted a strict and rigid discipline, to which she herself adhered. In collaboration with the clinic dietician, Sheila Sutherland, she initiated great advances in the care of children with diabetes. Although she spoke on the subject at community meetings, she did not publish her work. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1976 for her services to medicine.

Eva Shipton was the founder of what has become known as Sydney Diagnostic Services, in 1928, when she commenced her private pathology practice in Macquarie Street, Sydney. Educated at Sydney University, where she gained her Bachelor of Science in 1921 and Bachelor of Medicine in 1925, she began her medical career at the Royal South Sydney Hospital and remained there from 1930-1946. She was also Honorary Consultant at St Margaret’s Hospital for Women from 1932-1974 and Mater Misericordiae North Sydney from 1936-1946. At the forefront of her profession, she was the first doctor to use blood groups for paternity suits in Sydney and inaugurated the first voluntary blood donors in Sydney with Toc H. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974 for services to medicine.

Margaret Henderson, a consultant physician to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1981, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1976 for her services to medicine. She enjoyed a long association with the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the capacity of honorary physician from 1947-1975 and specialist physician from 1976-1981. She was also consultant physician at the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women from 1959. During World War II she served as a captain in the Australian Military Forces from 1941-42. She completed her medical training at the University of Melbourne, graduating MB BS in 1931 and MD in 1941. She was a Fellow of Janet Clarke Hall, at the University of Melbourne from 1966.

Margery Scott-Young conducted a successful practice in surgery in Sydney for twenty-five years, preceded by ten years in general practice. Graduating Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Master of Surgery from Sydney University in 1936, her first appointment was as resident medical officer at Sydney Hospital in 1936, moving to Rachel Forster Hospital in 1937 to take up the position as medical superintendent. She then assumed the position of resident medical officer at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, from 1939-1940. Using her professional skills, she served during World War II in the Australian Army Medical Corps from 1942-1946. After her war service she returned to the Rachel Forster Hospital, initially as honorary assistant surgeon from 1946-1958 and from 1958-1972 as honorary consultant surgeon. Her other commitments included becoming a life governor of the Australian Postgraduate Federation of Medicine in 1977, president of the Australian Federation of Medical Women from 1986-1989, honorary librarian of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) New South Wales branch from 1972-1977 and vice-president of the Medical Benevolent Association of New South Wales from 1980-1983. She published a story of her life entitled Family Bugles in 1991. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 for Services to Medicine.

Teresa Brophy had a distinguished career as an anaesthetist in Brisbane, Queensland. On completion of her medical training in Brisbane and London, she held both academic and hospital appointments in Brisbane. In addition, she was vice-chairman of the Australian Resuscitation Council from 1976. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 11 June 1976 for her services to medicine.

Marie Naomi Wing (preferred name Naomi), an honours graduate in medicine and surgery from the University of Sydney in 1927, was renowned for her work as a rheumatologist and specialist in rehabilitation medicine. She served as president of the Australian Rheumatism Association from 1962-1963 and as president of the Association of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine from 1958-1959. She was medical director of the Rehabilitation Centre at the Royal South Sydney Hospital from 1968 onwards, and in the same year was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to medicine. Her work in rehabilitative medicine was acknowledged with her appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979.

She married Lindon Wooledge Wing in 1928 in Katoomba, New South Wales. They had three children, one of whom went on to study medicine and become a doctor.

Lucy Blanche Biggs was born on 20 December 1909 in Scottsdale in Tasmania. She completed her medical training at the University of Melbourne, graduating MB BS in 1946. She held appointments at the Bendigo Base and the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospitals before embarking on work as a medical missionary in Papua New Guinea.

Dr Biggs was the first medical Coordinator for the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea from September 1948 to January 1974 working in the northern district of Papua. In 1948 she was appointed by the Australian Board of Missions to Eroro and spent the next twelve years in Eroro in general practice before moving onto St Luke’s TB hospital in 1968. She was transferred to medical administration at Popandetta and resigned in 1974.

Dr Biggs was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1975 for her work as a medical missionary in Papua New Guinea. Her life in Papua is detailed in her regular newsletters – 110 of them over 25 years – which she published under the title From Papua with love.

Catherine Martin was a journalist for the West Australian newspaper from 1957, specialising in medical reporting. She was born in the United Kingdom but emigrated to Western Australia and lived there for most of her life.

Margaret McPherson, educated in private schools in Adelaide and Melbourne, completed her tertiary education at the University of Melbourne and the Institute of Education London. Her teaching experience, included appointments at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne as Assistant mistress from 1943-48 and later as Head of the History Department from 1952-55. She spent the years 1950-51 teaching at the Girls’ High School Slough, England. She was appointed principal of Clarendon PLC Ballarat, Victoria in 1956 and remained there until her appointment as principal of Korowa Church of England Girls’ Grammar School in 1970. In addition to her duties of school administration, she served as president of the Association of Headmistresses of Independent Schools of Australia from 1970-73 and also as president of its Victorian counterpart from 1970-74. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1978 for services to education.

Dilys Craven, née Rees, was acknowledged for her work as a paediatrician at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide. Born and educated in Wales she became the senior visiting specialist in paediatrics at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital from 1951. In 1954 she became the senior visiting specialist in paediatrics at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She completed a Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Adelaide in 1966. During World War II, she served as Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps (UK) from 1944-1945 and was in Europe on active service with the British Army of the Rhine from 1945-1947. She married David Craven in December 1950 and had two daughters. Other commitments included a term as president of the Australian Federation of Medical Women in 1980, and as a committee member of the National Council of Women of Australia. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1981 for her services to medicine and paediatrics. She retired from medical practice in 1984, but retained her links with the hospitals as Emeritus Physician.