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 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 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 ...

in Melbourne.

Early life and education

Stone was born on 4 December 1856 in

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent (Tasmania), River Derwent, it is the southernmo ...

to William and Betsy Stone. The family moved to Melbourne in 1872. In 1882, Stone met Reverend David Egryn Jones, who had emigrated from England. Moved by the poverty his parish, Jones decided to study medicine, and Constance followed suit. She was forced to leave Australia to study medicine since the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

would not admit women into the medicine course. She graduated from the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Founded in 1850, The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), formally known as The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, was the first American medical college dedicated to teaching women medicine and allowing them to earn the Doctor ...

, and was awarded her MD from the

University of Trinity College Trinity College (occasionally referred to as the University of Trinity College) is a University of Toronto#Colleges, federated college of the University of Toronto located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Down ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1888. Jones followed her to Canada to earn his MD.

Career

Stone went on to London where she worked in the

New Hospital for Women The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital and its predecessor organisations provided health care to women in central London from the mid-Victorian era. It was named after Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, one of Britain's first female physi ...

and qualified as a licentiate of the

Worshipful Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a me ...

in 1889. It was her time at the New Hospital which was her inspiration to one day found a hospital that was run 'by women, for women'. In 1890, after she returned to Australia, she became the first woman to be registered with the Medical Board of Victoria. Her sister, Grace 'Clara' Stone followed her into medicine. Clara had been allowed to study in Australia and was one of two women who graduated from the

in 1891. The sisters went into private practice together and both worked at the out-patients' dispensary in La Trobe Street. In 1895, the first meeting of the

convened in Constance's house, with Clara taking up the presidency. In September 1896 eleven of Melbourne's women, doctors decided to found the

for women. Construction of the hospital was funded by a jubilee shilling fund appeal, it officially opened in July 1899.

Death and legacy

Stone married Reverend David Egryn Jones in 1893. She gave birth to her daughter, Constance Bronwen, in 1899. In 1902, Stone fell ill with tuberculosis and died on 29 December, aged 45. Her husband Rev David Egryn Jones MD, and daughter Bronwen, who also became a doctor in London, survived her. A lane in the Queen Victoria Village in Melbourne (known as QV), is named after Stone. She was posthumously 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 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Constance 1856 births 1902 deaths Australian feminists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Australia Medical doctors from Melbourne Trinity College (Canada) alumni University of Toronto alumni 19th-century Australian medical doctors 20th-century Australian women Infectious disease deaths in Victoria (state) Colony of Tasmania people People from the Colony of Victoria 19th-century Australian women medical doctors