Person
Wilson, Ellen Mary Kent (1893 - 1979)
MBE
- Born
- 29 August 1893
Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 16 May 1979
Armidale, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Local councillor and Physician
- Alternative Names
- Hughes, Ellen Mary Kent (maiden name)
- Kent Hughes, Ellen Mary (Also known as)
Summary
Ellen Mary K. Wilson, who practiced under her maiden name Hughes, completed her medical training at the University of Melbourne, graduating MB BS in 1917. After two years at the Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane she became a Consulting Physician at the Armidale and New England Hospital, New South Wales. In Armidale she combined family with medical practice community service including 30 years on the local council. Of particular concern to her was the health of the local Aboriginal community. Her publications in the Medical Journal of Australia include "Syphilis in children" (October 1919) and "The role of the private practitioner in the prevention of disease" (May 1967). She served as a Justice of the Peace and was appointed MBE - Member of The Order of the British Empire (Civil) - 1 January 1968 for medicine.
Details
Chronology
- 1917
- Education - MB BS, University of Melbourne
- 1918 - 1919
- Career position - Resident Medical Officer, Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane
- 1919 - 1960?
- Career position - Consulting Physician at the Armidale and New England Hospital, New South Wales
- 1923 - 1924
- Career position - Member of Council, Shire of Kingaroy, Queensland
- 1928
- Career event - Established medical practice in Armidale, New South Wales
- 1937 - 1968
- Career position - Member of Council, City of Armidale, New South Wales
- 1963 - 1964
- Career position - Deputy Mayor, City of Armidale, New South Wales
- 1968
- Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
- 1971
- Award - Fellow, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- 1977
- Life event - Retired from medical practice
Related entries
Parent
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regularly edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Book Sections
- Gilbert, L. A., 'Kent Hughes, Ellen Mary (1893-1979), medical practitioner and alderman' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 15: 1940 - 1980 Kem-Pie, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), pp. 5-6. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kent-hughes-ellen-mary-10722. Details
Journal Articles
- Pearn, John, 'Invisible victims: Queensland children and the 1919 influenza epidemic', Queensland history journal, 24 (4) (2020), 399-409. Details
- Williams, Lesley M., 'Medical Women in Queensland: Characters and Charisma', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, 20 (4) (2007), 134-138. Details
Resources
- 'Wilson, Ellen Mary Kent', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-762078. Details
Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 November 2002, Last modified: 13 November 2025