Lilian Violet Cooper (11 August 1861 - 18 August 1947 Brisbane) was a British-born medical practitioner in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. She was the first female doctor registered in Queensland.

Early life and education

Lilian Cooper was born in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, South London on 11 August 1861, to parents Henry Fallowfield Cooper, a captain in the Royal Marines, and his wife Elizabeth Shewell. She chose to study medicine at the

London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Me ...

in 1886. After completing the course in October 1890 she qualified as a doctor at the

Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

, studying also at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, and the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.

Career

On completing her education at the London School of Medicine for Women, in 1892, Cooper sailed for

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

with Mary Josephine Bedford. In June 1891, Cooper applied for registration with the Medical Board of Queensland, becoming the first woman doctor registered in Queensland and the second in Australia. Cooper began her professional career in Brisbane with Dr Booth at his general practice in

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people. Geography The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the north-west, ...

. However, after 6 months of working with Booth who was, reportedly, inebriated for much of the time, Cooper terminated her agreement with him and set up her own practice. Her actions raised the ire of Brisbane's then (all male) medical establishment who shunned her professionally until 1893 when she was finally admitted as a member of the Queensland Medical Society. She commenced her own practice at The Mansions in George Street in 1893, making house calls in her horse and sulky initially, then in her much-loved motorcar. Cooper the worked at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Lady Lamington Hospital for Women in Brisbane, before joining the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in 1905. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Cooper volunteered with the Scottish Women's Hospital Service after was she was turned down by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

as female doctors were not wanted. She assisted people on the front line in France and Serbia and was in charge of the ambulance division, with all female drivers (including her friend Mary Josephine Bedford). Operating in tents close to the front line, Cooper was later awarded the

Order of St Sava The Royal Order of St. Sava is an Order of merit, first awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 and later by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was awarded to nationals and foreigners for meritorious ach ...

from the Serbian King for her wartime efforts. After World War I, Cooper and Bedford returned to Brisbane in 1918, living at Kangaroo Point. Cooper became a Foundation Fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, sup ...

in 1928 and Founder of the Queensland Medical Women's Society.

Later life

Cooper retired in 1941. She died at Brisbane on 18 August 1947 and is buried next to her long-time companion Mary Josephine Bedford at Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Legacy

The

electoral district of Cooper Cooper is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It was created in the 2017 redistribution, and was won at that year's state election by Labor's Kate Jones. It was named after pioneer doctor ...

, created in the 2017 Queensland state electoral redistribution and the Lilian Cooper Medical Centre in Spring Hill and both named after Lilian Cooper. In 2020, the

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

produced an episode on Lilian Cooper and her life achievements for thei
Dangerous Women
Podcast series.

References

External links

Dr Lilian Cooper (1861-1947)
- Episode
Dangerous Women
Podcast
State Library of Queensland
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Lilian Violet People from Queensland Australian military doctors Australian women medical doctors Australian medical doctors Queensland in World War I Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service volunteers 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women 1861 births 1947 deaths