Kathleen Mary Gertrude Todd (19 November 1898 – 21 March 1968) was a pioneering New Zealand child psychiatrist.

Early life

Kathleen Todd was born in 1898 in

Heriot Heriot, from Old English ''heregeat'' ("war-gear"), was originally a death-duty in late Anglo-Saxon England, which required that at death, a nobleman provided to his king a given set of military equipment, often including horses, swords, shields ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. She was one of the seven children of Charles Todd, an auctioneer and stock and station agent who founded the firm that became the

Todd Corporation The Todd Corporation is a large private New Zealand company with a value of $4.3 billion, owned and controlled by the Todd family and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand. The corporation is currently led by chairman of the board, Henry Tait ...

, and his wife Mary Hegarty. Kathleen was educated at St Dominic's College,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

of which she was dux in 1915. She proceeded to the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

to study medicine graduating ( M.B.Ch.B) UNZ in 1923. She obtained junior medical positions, but for women doctors professional options were limited in New Zealand at that time. She carried out further studies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

hospitals and did further courses in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

in psychological medicine. She obtained a Diploma in Psychological Medicine (DPM) in London.

Career

Todd became a Member of the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...

in 1938 and a Fellow in 1942; a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

in 1941; a Member of the

Royal Medico Psychological Association The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

in 1943. Kathleen Todd used her considerable means to establish Fellowships to assist young psychiatrists in postgraduate study in London, one per year from 1962. She intended the money, GBP600 ($24,000 in 2012) per year for three years, to pay for a personal psychoanalysis and assist with a broad experience of European culture. She stipulated that Kathleen Todd Fellows return to New Zealand to private practice. Brian Barraclough MD FRACP was the first Fellow 1962-64.

Personal life

Kathleen Todd shared in the considerable wealth of the Todd family as her father made a point of spreading shareholdings amongst his children and to his wife (although the males got bigger parcels than the females). When Kathleen Todd and Moyra Todd were living in Hamstead their well-ordered household included servants and "Brett the butler".Galbreath, p. 155 She died at home on 21 March 1968.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Kathleen Mary Gertrude New Zealand psychiatrists New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand people of Scottish descent People educated at Trinity Catholic College, Dunedin University of Otago alumni 1898 births 1968 deaths Kathleen New Zealand women psychiatrists 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors People from Heriot, New Zealand