Gertrude Halley

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Gertrude Halley

MB., ChB.
Gertrude Halley.png
Born
Ida Gertrude Margaret Halley

(1867-08-01)1 August 1867
Died1 October 1939(1939-10-01) (aged 72)
Maylands, South Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationPresbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne,
University of Melbourne
Medical career
Professionmedical practitioner

Ida Gertrude Margaret Halley MB., ChB. (1 August 1867 – 1 October 1939), generally known as Gertrude Halley, was an Australian physician and feminist, noted for her work in eye and ear surgery.

History[]

Gertrude was a daughter of Margaret Halley (c. 1838 – 24 December 1929) and the Rev. J. J. Halley. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and Melbourne University. She was engaged in medical research in London and Shanghai, before returning to Melbourne, where she entered private practice in partnership with Dr. Kent Hughes.[1]

She was a founder and the first treasurer of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. In 1906 she helped found a medical inspection section for the Education Department in Tasmania, the first in Australia, and a similar organization in New South Wales, then in 1913 established the schools medical service in South Australia, where she started with a staff of two nurses. After twelve years she was appointed Principal Medical Officer with the Education Department with a staff of five medical inspectors, four nurses, three dentists and later, a psychologist.[1]

She was a prominent member of the , a South Australian organization founded in 1909, which later became the . Halley chaired the League from 1916 to 1922 and played an active role in motivating women in social and political spheres. In 1920 she was one of the founders of the South Australian branch of the National Council of Women, serving on its committee for the initial ten years.[2] She was a regular worshipper at the Clayton Congregational Church and a member of the during the Great War, and its chairman for many years.

She died at her residence "Greenhey" or "Greenhays", 24 Wellington-road, Maylands, South Australia.[3] She had two sisters: Enid Una Halley, who married George Coghill on 25 November 1896, and Ethel Halley, a longtime missionary in China.

Halley Street, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Schools Medical Officer Dies". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 2 October 1939. p. 18. Retrieved 23 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Halley, Ida Gertrude Margaret (1867–1939)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Family Notices". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 2 October 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 23 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Periodic (National : 1977 - 2011) - 15 May 1987 - p3". Trove. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
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