Biographical entry Booth, Mary (1869 - 1956)

Summary

Mary Booth lectured in hygiene at girls' secondary schools in Sydney from 1900 and for the Department of Public Instruction 1904-09. In 1910-12 she helped establish the first schools medical service in Victoria and was later involved in household health and welfare. She is commemorated by the Mary Booth scholarship for women economics students, University of Sydney.

Details

Events

1890

Education - Bachelor of Arts (BA) completed at the University of Sydney

1891 - 1893

Career position - Governess

1899

Career position - Infirmary work in the UK

1899

Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Master of Surgery (CM) completed at the College of Medicine for Women, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

1900

Career position - Anthropometrist in the Department of the Government Statistician

1900 - 1910

Career position - Private practice with much contractual work

1904 - 1909

Career position - Lecturer in Hygiene for the Department of Public Instruction

1910 - 1912

Career position - Helped to establish the first school medical service in Victoria for the Victorian Department of Education

1913

Career position - Represented the Australian Government at a Conference on Infant Mortality in London

1914

Career position - Founded the Babies' Kit Society for the Allies' Babies

1918

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

1921 - 1956

Career position - President of the Anzac Fellowship of Women

1936

Career position - Founded Memorial College of Household Arts and Science

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Angus & Robertson - Records, 1824 - 1933, ML MSS 314; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Mary Booth - Records, 1899 - 1957, ML MSS 1329; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Mary Booth - Records, c. 1918 - 1979, MS 2864; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Roe, J. I., 'Booth, Mary (1869-1956), physician and welfare worker', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1979, pp. 345-346. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070350b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Booth, Mary, 'The Scope and Organisation of a School Medical Service', Transaction of the Australasian Medical Congress, 1911, pp. 650-655. Details

Online Resources

• 'Booth, Mary (1869-1956), Biographical Entry', in Australian Women's Archives Project, National Foundation for Australian Women, 2002, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0100b.htm. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Booth, Mary', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-771086. Details

See also

• Alexander, John A. (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 1944, vol. 12, The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp. Details