Doctor Eleanor Constance Greenham, first Queensland born woman to take a degree in medicine, ca 1915 – Image courtesy of the State Library of Queensland

The city of Ipswich is home to many Queensland and Australian firsts, and recently a list was compiled by the Ipswich City Council, in an effort to highlight our wonderful early history. The Ipswich Firsts timeline contains an amazing array of interesting facts regarding the first horse race meeting, the first towels ever made, and the first Primary School Library. However, the first that came across as most notable was that of the story of Doctor Eleanor Greenham, who was the first Queensland born woman to be registered as a medical practitioner.

Doctor Greenham’s life is one full of amazing feats and medical endeavours. She was born in April of 1874 to parents John and Eleanor Greenham and was one of five children, she being the only daughter of the couple. Her family occupied a residence in Limestone Street, Ipswich where they lived happily with John holding a prominent place in Ipswich with his business Greenham & co. and later serving as an Alderman with the Ipswich Council. In Eleanor’s early years of schooling she attended the Ipswich Central Girls and Infants School from 1889-1890. For her later schooling (possibly in 1891) she attended the Brisbane Girls Grammar School where she excelled in her schooling. However, in 1892 Eleanor transferred her schooling to Ipswich, as with the opening of the town’s own Grammar School it was much easier for her to complete her senior schooling closer to home. The entrance examination for the school was quite detailed and involved and after passing she was the first girl to be admitted to the school by then Headmistress, Fanny Hunt.

Eleanor was an incredibly bright and talented student who strived to reach her full potential when completing her schooling. On several occasions she won distinguished educational awards including the Botany Medal and prizes for her hard work in History and Latin. However, her most proficient subject was Science for which she won a number of school prizes and medals for her achievements in 4th, 5th and 6th form at the Ipswich Girls Grammar. Eleanor excelled in her early schooling and as such she set about preparing herself for her Entrance Examinations for the University of Sydney, which she passed and was admitted into the Faculty of Arts in 1895 at the age of 20 years. After completing one year of study in this area Eleanor then transferred to medicine in 1896 and passed all of her subjects which included physiology, zoology, and botany. In her second year of medical studies she did not perform as well; however she passed the re-examinations and proceeded into the future where she passed her final years of study in midwifery, surgery and jurisprudence with flying colours. Therefore, it came as no surprise that in March of 1901 she graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, and became the first Queensland woman to practice medicine.

Lady Bowen Hospital, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, Graduation Class of 1907. Doctor Eleanor Greenham can be seen sitting in on a chair in front of Matron Capner at the front of the photo in plain dress – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich

 

It wasn’t until May of this same year that Doctor Greenham was officially registered with the Medical Board, after which she promptly began working as a resident medical officer at the Lady Bowen Hospital, Wickham Terrace in Brisbane. Throughout her medical studies Doctor Greenham was consistently looking up to idols such as Florence Nightingale and Doctor Lilian Violet Cooper, who was the first woman to practice medicine in Queensland and the second woman in Australia. After graduating it was Doctor Cooper who offered encouragement to the young Eleanor and throughout their working lives they were close friends. These two prominent female Doctors were also later elected into the British Medical Association as members which may have been where Doctor Cooper and Doctor Greenham often met. After spending a short time at the Lady Bowen Hospital Doctor Greenham went on to pursue her own general practice, and opened rooms in the City Chambers on the corner of Edward and Queen Streets in 1903. This was a bold move by Eleanor as many of her male counterparts at this point in time were disapproving of her role in the medical profession. However, Doctor Greenham took no notice and put skills to good use in caring for the business women of Brisbane and the surrounding areas. She was noted by her patients to be cheery, skillful and dedicated to the medical profession.

In 1907 Doctor Greenham moved her practice to the first floor of the Association Chambers on Edward Street, where she expanded her practice to include a surgery, waiting room and office. Eleanor’s living quarters were also located to the back of this building. Doctor Greenham had many loves apart from her profession including playing piano, reading her regular copy of the National Geographic magazine, and visiting the Theatre. She also had an avid interest in motor cars and was one of the first women in Queensland to drive a vehicle in 1907. Her first car was a Darracq which she later replaced with a Hupmobile, for which she became a shareholder of the company that produced such cars at Petrie Bight. After serving the medical profession for more than 57 years Doctor Eleanor Greenham passed away in December of 1957 aged 83 years. Despite facing much competition and disapproval in her field Eleanor persisted through her work and built up much rapport with her patients, to the point that even upon her retirement to New Farm in 1953 she still continued to see a select few of her regular patients.