Person

Stillwell, Effie (1877 - 1950)

Born
17 May 1877
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died
10 December 1950
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Medical practitioner and Missionary

Summary

Effie Stillwell showed a considerable talent for mathematics, earning honours in her school examinations. She chose to study medicine, graduating in 1902. For the next three years she worked at the Lady Bowen Maternity Hospital in Brisbane and the Sydney Medical Mission. In 1905 she left Australia with Constance Howell to work for the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission at the Duchess of Teck Hospital in Patna, Bihar, India. This was the largest hospital providing health care to women who could not see male doctors. Stillwell worked here, with several furloughs in Melbourne, until she retired in 1937. In 1926 she was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hinde Medal for Public Service in India. Her brother was Antarctic explorer and geologist Frank Stillwell.

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Details

Chronology

1902
Career event - Registered as qualified medical practitioner in Queensland
1902
Education - MB BS, University of Melbourne
1902 - 1903
Career position - Resident Medical Officer, Lady Bowen Maternity Hospital, Brisbane
1903
Career event - Elected a member of the Australasian Medical Association
1904 - 1905
Career position - Superintendent, Sydney Medical Mission, New South Wales
October 1905
Career event - Leaves Melbourne (with Constance Howell) under the auspices of the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission for the Duchess of Teck Hospital, Patna, India
1926
Award - Kaisar-i-Hinde Medal for Public Service in India
1937
Life event - Retired to Melbourne
1942
Career event - Appointed honorary secretary of the London Missionary Society auxiliary of the Congregational Women's Association

Related People

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Anon, 'The Kaisir-I-Hind medal [awarded to Effie Stillwell]', Medical journal of Australia (1926), 6. Details

See also

  • Parry, Suzanne, 'Women Medical Graduates and Mission Service', Health and History, 2 (1) (2000), 27-51. Details
  • Raman, Ramya and Raman, Anantanarayanan, 'Women doctors and women's hospitals in Madras with notes on the related influencing developments in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries', Current science, 117 (7) (2019), 1232-40, https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/117/07/1232.pdf. Details

Sara Maroske

Created: 18 March 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P007647b.htm

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