Simone huffed and opened her book. ‘Well, you have now.’
‘Cheer up,’ said Carly. ‘You’re going to have to put up with us twenty-four hours a day, almost every day for the next six years. You might as well make the most of it.’
Dora and Arthur giggled. At the sound of their laughter, Ellie pricked up her ears, wagged her tail, jumped up onto the sofa and smothered Simone’s face with her big wet slobbery tongue.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Lilian Cooper was the first female doctor in Queensland. She was also the second in Australia (Constance Stone was the first).
Dr Cooper was born in England in 1861. She studied medicine in England but had to do her medical exams in Scotland because in those days English universities did not give medical degrees to women. Lilian became a doctor in 1890. The next year she came to Australia with her best friend Josephine Bedford.
At first, some patients and doctors didn’t like the idea of a woman practising medicine. They thought that women were more suited to being wives and mothers and that they should
not have careers of their own - especially not as doctors. Luckily for the people of Brisbane, Lilian Cooper took no notice of these views. She cared deeply for women and children and worked hard all her life to look after their health and fight for their rights in society.
In 1900, Dr Cooper became one of the first doctors at the Lady Lamington Hospital. She was there when the hospital was extended five years later, just as she was in this book. She also worked for many years at the Mater Hospital. In those days it was rare for a woman to work as a doctor, and even rarer for a woman to become a surgeon. Dr Cooper was one of the few female surgeons in Australia. She became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1928 - a very important achievement.
She was also one of the first women in Queensland to drive a motor car. When the Automobile Club (now known as the RACQ) formed in 1905, Dr Cooper was the only woman amongst the 18 founding members. She was known to be a bit of a wild driver. She really did knock over a pedestrian once, but luckily he wasn’t injured.
Lilian Cooper was 53 when the First World War broke out. The Australian Army wouldn’t let women join up as surgeons; some say they told them they would serve the country better by staying home and knitting! Lilian and Jo refused to accept this. They learned that the Scottish Women’s Hospital was sending female doctors to the war hospitals, and so they joined several other strong and courageous women there. Dr Agnes Bennett was in charge of their unit. She was an Australian-born doctor who had moved to New Zealand to practice medicine. Like Lilian Cooper, Agnes Bennett did a lot to improve health care for women and children, and she fought hard to promote their rights and education in Australia and New Zealand.
These women worked bravely under terrible conditions during the war, and afterwards the King of Serbia awarded them medals for their service.
Josephine Bedford was also a remarkable woman. She founded the Creche and Kindergarten Association and the Playground Association and, like Dr Cooper, worked hard to promote the rights of women and children. She lived with Dr Cooper right up until her friend’s death in 1947.
Many of the stories in this book are true. In the early days, Dr Cooper really did take out a woman’s appendix on her own dining table (though Carly Mills wasn’t there to watch). It is said that she also really did stitch up a boy’s arm at the roadside when a bully knocked him into the gutter - and gave him peppermints and whipped the bully. It’s true, too, that Dr Cooper disliked corsets and fashions that she thought were bad for the health. She really did give a series of lectures called The Hygiene of Dress.
Dr Cooper’s life was very full. There are too many stories to tell in one short book. She worked all her life to make life better for people, especially for women and children. She advised the government about making safe milk available for all children, and she campaigned to make Brisbane’s sewerage and sanitation better. She fought for women’s legal rights and championed the right of women to vote. Brisbane’s electorate of Cooper is named after her.
The court case in this story took place in 1923. It was a very worrying time for Dr Cooper, but when so many doctors - most of them male - came to support her, it showed how much respect she had finally earned. Today she is recognised as one of Brisbane’s finest pioneers.
A final note: Kenny College is not a real school. I chose to name it after Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian nurse whose ideas on the treatment of polio helped people all around the world.
Have women’s lives improved since you were a girl?
Of course! Now women can become surgeons. They can vote; they can cut their hair short; they can enter politics, have careers AND children. They can even wear trousers. None of those were possible when I was a girl.
Do you ever wish you had married?
What on earth would I do with a husband? Next question!
What was your greatest achievement?
I don’t like to boast about my achievements.
What do you do for fun?
Work is fun. Apart from that, I like to go to the theatre. Jo and I try to have a short break at the beach every year. I walk the dogs. I love dogs. But look, I haven’t got all day to stand around gossiping. I’ve got work to do.
What would you say to a young woman today who wanted to be a doctor?
Don't let anything stand in your way. That
