MAYO, HELEN MARY, (1878-1967), medical practitioner, was born on 1 October 1878
in Adelaide, eldest of seven children of George Gibbes Mayo, draughtsman and later
civil engineer, and his wife Henrietta Mary, née Donaldson. Educated by a tutor at
home—her studies included physics—and for two years at the Advanced School for
Girls, she matriculated in 1895 and entered the University of Adelaide next year.
Helen enrolled in arts because her father considered her too young to study
medicine. She began medical studies in 1898, winning the Davies Thomas scholarship
in 1901 and the Everard scholarship in 1902; she was the university's second woman
graduate in medicine (1902). After a year as house surgeon at the (Royal) Adelaide
Hospital, she left for London where she was a clinical clerk at the Hospital for
Sick Children in Great Ormond Street. Following a course in tropical medicine, she
gained experience in midwifery in Dublin and at St Stephen's Hospital for women
and children in Delhi.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Dr Helen Mayo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 3 June 1935 for her maternal and child welfare activities. She worked well past retirement age and established several children's health facilities.
Helen Mayo was educated privately and at the Advanced School for Girls; she matriculated in 1895. Mayo began a medical degree at the University of Adelaide in 1898, and became the university's second woman medical graduate. She gained her doctorate in medicine (MD) in 1926. She opened a private practice in Adelaide in 1906 specialising in midwifery and the health of women and children. She lectured at the University of Adelaide 1926-1934. Mayo also founded the Mothers and Babies' Health Association (1927) which grew out of the School for Mothers she established with social worker Harriet Stirling in 1909. The organisation still exists today, as Child and Youth Health. Stirling and Mayo also set up an independent hospital in 1913 to address the special needs of infant patients. In 1917 it was taken over by the Government and became the Mareeba Babies' Hospital, with Mayo as honorary responsible medical officer.
Mayo also worked for the Adelaide Children's Hospital, lectured at the University of Adelaide, established a donor service for the Red Cross Transfusion Service and chaired a committee which aimed to establish a women's university college. In 1935 Dr Helen Mayo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for her maternal and child welfare activities. She was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a foundation Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and President of the Australian Federation of University Women.
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Australian Women's Register
Helen Mary Mayo opened a practice in Adelaide in 1906 specializing in midwifery and the health of women and children. She lectured at the University of Adelaide 1926-34. She also founded the Mothers' and Babies' Health Association and the Mareeba Babies' Hospital.
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1901
Award - Davies Thomas Scholarship received from the University of Adelaide
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1902
Award - Everard Scholarship received from the University of Adelaide
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1902
Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BS) completed at the University of Adelaide, first female graduate in medicine at the University
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1902 - 1903
Career position - House Surgeon at the Adelaide Hospital
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1903 - 1906
Career position - Clinical Clerk at the Hospital for Sick Children in London and experience in midwifery in Dublin, Ireland and Delhi, India
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1906 - ?
Career position - Private practice in Adelaide
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1911 - 1933
Career position - Clinical Bacteriologist in the Vaccine Department at the Adelaide Hospital
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1919 - 1926
Career position - Honorary Assistant Physician at the Adelaide Children's Hospital
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1926
Education - Doctor of Medicine (MD) received from the University of Adelaide, first female MD at the University
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1926 - 1934
Career position - Clinical Lecturer in medical diseases of children at the University of Adelaide
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1926 - 1938
Career position - Honorary Physician at the Adelaide Children's Hospital
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1935
Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
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1938 - 1940
Career position - Honorary Consulting Physician at the Adelaide Children's Hospital
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1940 - 1945
Career position - Senior Paediatric Advisor at the Adelaide Children's Hospital
View the full record at
Encyclopedia of Australian Science