Grace 'Clara' Stone (12 January 1860 – 10 May 1957) was a medical doctor from Melbourne, Australia, who was one of the founders of the

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-famo ...

and a co-founder, and the first president, of the

Victorian Medical Women's Society The Victorian Medical Women's Society (VMWS) is the longest-running association of women medical practitioners and medical students. It was established in Melbourne, Australia in 1896 and is one of the oldest active medical organisations in the ...

. She was also in the group of seven women who successfully fought the ban against women studying medicine at Melbourne University in 1887, and one of the first two women to graduate as a doctor, in 1891.

Career

Studying Medicine

In 1887, the University of Melbourne allowed women to study in all faculties other than medicine. Earlier, in 1883, Stone's sister

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

had her admission to the faculty of medicine refused, she travelled overseas to obtain her medical degree Stone subsequently also applied to Melbourne University and was refused, until she responded to an advertisement that Lilian Alexander, and

Helen Sexton 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 ...

put in the paper seeking other women who were interested in enrolling in medicine at the university. Five women including Stone responded, Grace Vale, Margaret Whyte, and

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

and Annie O'Hara. Together they actively agitated through their connections on the university council, and through the media to force the university to allow them to enrol in Medicine. On the 21 February 1887, the university council met and approved a motion to allow women into medicine, ten votes to three. All seven women were enrolled, and graduated, with Stone being one of the first, graduating with Whyte in 1891. Her sister,

Constance Stone Emma Constance Stone (4 December 185629 December 1902) was the first woman to practice medicine in Australia. She played an important role in founding both the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, Queen Victoria Hospital, and the Victorian Medic ...

, was the first woman to practice medicine in Australia. Grace Clara Stone

Awards

Stone was inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...

in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Clara Australian general practitioners 1860 births 1957 deaths Colony of Tasmania people 20th-century Australian women medical doctors 20th-century Australian medical doctors 19th-century Australian women medical doctors