Hannah Mary Helen Sexton MBBS (21 June 1862 – 12 October 1950), known as Helen Sexton, was an Australian surgeon. In 1887, she led a group of seven women to successfully petition the University of Melbourne to lift their ban on women enrolling in medicine. She completed her degree in 1892, and went on to co-found the Queen Victoria Hospital. After retiring from a surgical career in Melbourne, she opened a field hospital, Hôpital Australien de Paris, in France during World War I, achieving the rank of Major in the French Army.
Major Helen Sexton | |
|---|---|
Helen Sexton 1887 | |
| Birth name | Hannah Mary Helen Sexton |
| Born | 21 June 1862 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 12 October 1950 (aged 88) London, England |
| Allegiance | Allies of World War I |
| Service/ | French Army |
| Years of service | c. 1914–1917 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Val-de-Grâce |
| Commands held | Hôpital Australien de Paris |
| Known for | Surgeon |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards | Medal of French Gratitude |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
Early life
editHannah Mary Helen Sexton was born on 21 June 1862 in Melbourne.[1] She was the youngest of five children born to Maria and Daniel Sexton, who had migrated from Limerick, Ireland, in 1854.[2]
Education
editSexton attended school in the suburb of Carlton and planned to study medicine, but instead began a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne because the university's medical school did not admit women. After having their applications to enrol in medicine rejected, Sexton and a classmate, Lilian Helen Alexander, posted a notice in the paper seeking other women who wished to study medicine. They received five responses, Grace Vale, Clara Stone, Margaret Whyte, and sisters Elizabeth and Annie O'Hara. Together these seven women began a campaign to force the university to allow women to enrol in medicine. The women used their influence in the upper classes of Melbourne, to gain media attention, and petitioned the university council over the issue. In February of 1887 the University council passed a motion to allow women into the medical school, by 10 votes to three. The seven women enrolled in March of 1887, and in the early 1890s, all graduated and were among the first women to practice medicine in Australia.[1][3][4]
Career
editSexton graduated with an MBBS in 1892, making her the third woman graduate from the University of Melbourne's medical school. Since most hospitals were reluctant to hire female doctors, Sexton joined a group of women, led by Constance Stone, who co-founded the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children in 1896. When the hospital opened in 1899, Sexton was appointed the head of surgery, a position she held until 1908. In 1899, she also joined the staff of the Royal Women's Hospital as an honorary gynaecological surgeon; she retired in 1910 due to health problems.[1]
Sexton moved to Europe in 1911. After the outbreak of the First World War, both the British Army and the Australian Army declined Sexton's surgical skills for active service. In July 2015, after gathering supplied and staff in Australia, Sexton established a tented field hospital, near Paris with financial support from her Australian colleagues such as Madame Charlotte Crivelli.[5][6] Sexton collaborated with Constance Ferrier Hamilton, who was known by her married name Mrs Robert O Blackwood,[7] and Susan Ledlie Wilson, who was also known by her married name Mrs William Smith, and Smith's daughters Lorna and Alison.[8][9] In France, Crivelli's sister, Suzanne Caubet, who worked as a senior volunteer administrator of the Buffon Hospital in Paris was instrumental in aiding in the establishment, supply, and management of the hospital, which was recognised by the French government as a military hospital. Sexton was given the rank of Major within the French Army. [5]
Later in the war, Sexton, and Mrs Blackwood, worked at Val-de-Grâce, a military hospital in Paris where doctors mainly performed reconstructive surgery on injured soldiers.[6][5]
Later life and death
editSexton returned to Melbourne in 1917 but left for Europe again in 1919, eventually settling in Florence. She suffered from arthritis and Parkinson's disease in her later life, and died in London on 12 October 1950.[1]
Recognition
edit- In 1919, Sexton, Mrs R. O Blackwood, and Mrs William Smith were each awarded a gold Médaille de la Reconnaissance française or Medal of French Gratitude for their work treating wounded French soldiers.[10][5]
- Sexton Street in the Canberra suburb of Cook is named in her honour.[11]
- In 2007, Sexton was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, for co-founding the Queen Victoria Hospital.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Russell, Penny (1988). "Sexton, Hannah Mary Helen (1862–1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ Macdonald, Colin (1956). "Hannah Mary Helen Sexton". The Book of Remembrance. Royal Women's Hospital. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ Healy, Jacqueline, ed. (2013). Strength of mind: 125 years of women in medicine (PDF). Melbourne, Victoria: Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne. ISBN 9780734048608. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
- ^ Turner, Elizabeth K (1984), The 88th Presidential Address to the Victorian Medical Women's Society, 18th November 1983 (PDF), Chiron Newsletter (March ed.), Melbourne, Victoria: University of Melbourne Medical Society, pp. 3–6, archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2024, retrieved 16 June 2024
- ^ a b c d "Dr Helen Sexton's Hôpital Australien de Paris, July–December 1915" (PDF). The French Australian Review. 68 (Winter 2020).
- ^ a b Neuhaus, Susan J.; Mascall-Dare, Sharon (2014). Not for Glory: A century of service by medical women to the Australian Army and its Allies. Boolarong Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-1-925046-66-3.
- ^ "A fashionable wedding". Oakleigh Leader. North Brighton. 6 July 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 27 April 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Tales of courage in WW1 display". Wharfedale Observer. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ "Western Fronts". Register. Adelaide, South Australia. 6 August 1915. p. 7. Retrieved 1 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "French medals given". Herald. Melbourne, Victoria. 19 November 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 1 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Australian Capital Territory National Memorials Ordinance 1928-1972". Australian Government Gazette. Periodic (National: 1974–1977). 13 April 1976. p. 1. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2007 (PDF). Office of Women’s Policy, Department for Victorian Communities, State of Victoria. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 June 2023 – via Her Place Museum.
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