![Elsie Dalyell (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Elsie_Dalyell_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Elsie Jean Dalyell (13 December 1881 – 1 November 1948) was an Australian medical doctor who specialised in
pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
. During World War I, she served in the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
across Europe, and was appointed an Officer of
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
upon the conclusion of the war.
Early life and education
Dalyell was born in
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Inner West, Sydney's inner west, is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the Local government areas of New South Wales, local government areas of the City of Sy ...
to James Melville Dalyell, a mining engineer, and Jean McGregor in 1881. She attended
Sydney Girls' High School
, motto_translation = Work Conquers All
, location = Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = Australia Sydney#New South Wales#Australia
, established =
, type = Governmen ...
under its first headmistress Lucy Garvin.
and subsequently the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
, where she studied arts and science for a year before transferring to medicine in 1906. During her time at the university, she was a resident of
The Women's College,
which she shortly after described as "the most pleasant
imein my life".
[ She received her ]Bachelor of Medicine
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...
in 1909—becoming one of the first women in the faculty to graduate with first class honours—and completed a Master of Surgery in 1910.
Career
After graduation, Dalyell took a position demonstrating pathology at the university.[ Her first professional position was as a resident medical officer at Sydney's ]Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
. In 1912 she became the first Australian woman to receive a Beit Memorial Fellowship for Medical Research, which took her to London to complete research at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine
The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, us ...
,[ for research into ]gastroenterology
Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...
in children.[
When World War I broke out, she left the institute to join the war effort; she ended up in ]Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
, Macedonia, in 1915 to help in managing the typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
epidemic of the time.[ She joined the ]Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service
The Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) was founded in 1914. It was led by Dr. Elsie Inglis and provided nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies. By the end of World War I, 14 medical units had been outfitted and ...
in 1916 and the Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
in 1917—together, these commitments took her to France, Greece, Malta and Turkey.[ The RAMC placed her in charge of a laboratory in the 63rd General Hospital in ]Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, a level of responsibility that had not previously been given to women.[ In 1919 she was appointed an Officer of the ]Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(O.B.E.) and was decorated by the Government of Serbia
The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, ...
.[ She returned to Australia in 1920.]
Dalyell then took up a senior clinician role with a research group in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
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, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
led by Harriette Chick
Dame Harriette Chick DBE (6 January 1875 – 9 July 1977) was a British microbiologist, protein scientist and nutritionist. She is best remembered for demonstrating the roles of sunlight and cod liver oil in preventing rickets.
Biography ...
,[ describing the clinic as "the most scientific infant clinic" with "the most highly trained staff in the world". There she completed extensive research on paediatric ]malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
-related diseases, including rickets
Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications may ...
.[ In 1923 Dalyell returned to Sydney for a lecture tour, but then found she had very few job opportunities.][ Her attempt to open a private practice failed, and she was eventually hired by the New South Wales Department of Public Health as an assistant ]microbiologist
A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...
in 1924.[ She was a committee member of the Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children from 1925 to 1935.][
Dalyell Street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.
]
Personal life
In her later life, Dalyell lived in Greenwich, New South Wales
Greenwich is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Greenwich is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Lane Cove.
The ...
. Her nieces, Elsa and Lindsay "Jean" Hazelton, lived with her until Jean died by suicide in 1931. Dalyell retired in 1946 and died on 1 November 1948 of hypertensive heart disease
Hypertensive heart disease includes a number of complications of high blood pressure that affect the heart. While there are several definitions of hypertensive heart disease in the medical literature, the term is most widely used in the context of ...
complicated by a coronary occlusion
A coronary occlusion is the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition may cause a heart attack.
In some patients coronary occlusion causes only mild pain, tightness or vague discomfort which may be ignored ...
.[
]
Selected works
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalyell, Elsie
1881 births
1948 deaths
Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Australian women of World War I
Australian women medical doctors
Australian medical doctors
Australian pathologists
Australian microbiologists
Women microbiologists
Royal Army Medical Corps officers
University of Sydney alumni
20th-century women scientists
Medical doctors from Sydney
Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service volunteers
19th-century Australian women
People educated at Sydney Girls High School