Laura Margaret Hope MBBS | |
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| Born | Laura Margaret Fowler 3 May 1868 Mitcham, South Australia |
| Died | 14 September 1952 (aged 84) North Adelaide, South Australia |
| Education |
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| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Relatives | George Swan Fowler (father) |
| Medical career | |
| Institutions | |
| Awards |
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Laura Margaret Hope (née Fowler) MBBS (3 May 1868 – 14 September 1952) was an Australian surgeon who worked at the Adelaide Children's Hospital and the house surgeon. She served in World War I as a doctor in Serbia, before being captured and spending three months as a prisoner of war. She was awarded the Serbian Samaritan Cross. She devoted over thirty years to medical and Baptist missionary work in Bengal and Serbia. for which she was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind medal.
Hope was the first woman to graduate in medicine and surgery at the University of Adelaide and Australia's first woman surgeon. [1]
Early life
Laura Margaret Fowler was born in the Adelaide suburb of Mitcham, South Australia to Scottish born parents George Swan Fowler and Catherine Janet Lamb. As a child, she helped her father, a successful wholesale grocer, to breed leeches for sale to pharmacists on the family's estate in Glen Osmond. [2]
Education
Fowler was educated privately, initially attending Madame Marval's private school in Adelaide as well as schools in England while her brother attended Cambridge University. The family returned to Adelaide in 1884 and Fowler matriculated in 1886. [1]
In 1887 Fowler became the first woman to enroll in medicine at the University of Adelaide. She was awarded the Elder Prize and graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1891. [1]
Career
Fowler was appointed the House Surgeon at the Adelaide Children's Hospital where she worked until she convinced her fiancé, Dr. Charles Henry Standish Hope (1861-1942), to travel with her to do missionary work in India, so they married on 4 July 1893 and travelled to Bengal. [1]
Hope spent many years working on missions in India, particularly in Bengal where, with Charles, she would spend 30 years providing medical assistance to the local community. [1] The couple frequently treated cases of typhoid, cholera and malaria and Charles became well known for his expertise in performing eye surgery. [2]
In 1915 the Hopes served in World War I as doctors in the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service (as the Australian Army would not enlist female doctors, only female nurses). [2] The Hopes treated wounded soldiers in Kragujevac, Serbia where they were captured and imprisoned in Hungary for two months. Following a period of respite in England, they returned to India and their mission efforts in 1916. Both were awarded the Serbian Samaritan Cross in 1918. [3] [2]
Prior to moving back to Adelaide with her husband for retirement, Laura Hope received the Kaisar-i-Hind medal for her missionary work. [4] The Hopes did mission work at the Australian Baptist Mission at Pubna, the New Zealand Baptist Misson Hospital, Chandpur, India, and the Bengal Baptist Mission at Kalimpong. [5]
Death
Hope died on 14 September 1952 in North Adelaide, South Australia and had no children. [2] Her husband predeceased her in 1942. [6]
See also
- Other notable women volunteers in the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
- Women in World War I
- Australian women in World War I
- The Serbian campaign (1914-1915)
References
- ^ a b c d e "Adelaide pioneers: Laura Fowler - our first woman medical graduate". Lumen. The University of Adelaide. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Jones, Helen. "Hope, Laura Margaret". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ^ "Scottish Women's Hospitals - Unit at Kraguievatz, Serbia". Imperial War Museum: Lives of World War One. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ Jones, Helen, "Hope, Charles Henry Standish (1861–1942)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 23 April 2019, retrieved 23 April 2019
- ^ Melbourne, National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. "Hope, Laura Margaret - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". www.womenaustralia.info. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ "Clare News In Victor". Northern Argus. Vol. LXXIII, no. 4, 750. South Australia. 25 September 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- 1868 births
- 1952 deaths
- Australian surgeons
- Australian women scientists
- University of Adelaide alumni
- Australian women surgeons
- Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service volunteers
- 20th-century Australian women
- Australian people of Scottish descent
- 19th-century Australian medical doctors
- 20th-century Australian medical doctors
- Australian expatriates in India
- World War I prisoners of war held by Austria-Hungary
- Colony of South Australia people
- 19th-century Australian women medical doctors