Grace Vale facts for kids
Grace Vale (born 1860, died 1933) was an amazing Australian doctor. She was one of the first women to become a doctor in Australia. Grace spent most of her career helping to make health services better for women and children. She worked especially in country areas of Victoria and New South Wales in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She was also a suffragist, meaning she worked hard to get women the right to vote.
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Early Life and Becoming a Doctor
Grace Vale was born in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on May 14, 1860. At that time, Victoria was a British colony. She was the first of six daughters. Her father, William Mountford Kinsey Vale, was a bookseller who later became a well-known politician. Her mother was Rachel Lennox. Grace's sister, May Vale, grew up to be a famous Australian painter.
Grace went to school mostly in Victoria, but she also studied for a while in England. In 1882, she passed her final high school exams. By 1887, she was studying biology at Melbourne University. This was a very important time for women in medicine. Grace became one of only seven women who were allowed to study medicine at the university. This was a big step, as many people at the time didn't think women should be doctors.
Grace worked hard and graduated as a doctor in 1894. She gained valuable experience at hospitals like the Alfred and the Women's and Children's Hospitals.
Helping People as a Doctor
After becoming a doctor, Grace Vale opened her own medical practice in Collins Street, Melbourne. She took over the office from another female doctor, Margaret Whyte.
Besides her daily work helping patients, Grace was very active in many groups. In March 1895, she helped start the Victorian Medical Women's Society. This group supported female doctors. The next month, she was chosen as a vice-president of the Victorian Woman's Suffrage League. This group fought for women's right to vote. She was also involved with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which promoted healthy living.
Through the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Grace helped create a plan in 1896. This plan offered free medical advice and affordable medicines to women working in factories in Melbourne. She also became a vice-president of a club for working girls in Collingwood. This club helped young women with recreation and self-improvement.
Moving to Ballarat and Community Work
Grace Vale was unique among the first female doctors in Australia. Unlike most, she didn't spend her whole career in a big city. In April 1896, Grace moved to Ballarat, a gold mining city in Victoria. She opened a new private practice there. Her father had also represented Ballarat in the local government. Her uncle, Richard Taylor Vale, who also supported women's right to vote, was a politician in Ballarat at the time. Grace often joined him at public meetings to support women's suffrage.
In Ballarat, Grace became even more involved in community work. She focused mainly on the health and well-being of women and children. By 1898, she was the President of Ballarat's Women’s Health and Home Protection Society. This group taught women important skills like cooking. She also promoted healthy eating for women through the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
In 1899, Grace made history again. She became one of the first two women to join the Ballarat City Board of Advice. This board watched over conditions in government schools. People who supported women's suffrage were very happy about these appointments. Grace stayed on the Board of Advice for about ten years. She even served as its president and vice-president. As a board member, she pushed for cooking classes for girls and swimming lessons for all children, including girls. Before this, swimming lessons were mostly for boys.
From 1906 to 1909, Grace was a vice-president of the Victorian School Boards Association. At a meeting in 1908, she successfully argued for schools to be cleaned properly. She wanted them to be fumigated regularly, not just by burning a small amount of sulfur. She also tried to replace "brush work" (an art skill) with first aid lessons in schools, but this idea was not approved. Grace was very passionate about first aid and often gave lessons through the St John Ambulance Association in Ballarat.
In 1908, Victoria became the last Australian state to give women the right to vote. Grace was president of the Ballarat Board of Advice at this time. She then worked to convince the new government to spend more money on Ballarat's state schools. She also pushed for better housing for kindergarten teachers.
Grace Vale was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party. In 1910, she became president of the Ballarat women's branch of the Commonwealth Liberal League. This group supported Liberal Party candidates. In May 1910, the former Liberal Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, spoke at a meeting of the Ballarat women's branch, which Grace chaired.
Later Career and Retirement
In October 1910, Grace Vale became the first woman in Victoria to be appointed a Public Vaccinator. This meant she was responsible for giving free vaccinations to children whose parents couldn't afford them. Grace also helped train nurses in Ballarat. Before World War I, she gave lectures on "home nursing". When the war started, she helped train women for a possible Australian nurses' brigade.
In April 1915, Grace accepted a new job. She became one of the first female Medical Officers for the NSW Department of Public Instruction. For several years, she was in charge of basic health check-ups for thousands of school children in New South Wales. For example, in just three weeks in 1916, she and a colleague checked between 1400 and 1500 children at a school in Lithgow. Grace traveled widely to schools in country NSW. She also made occasional visits back to Victoria to see her family.
Grace retired in mid-1925. She then moved to Black Rock, a suburb of Melbourne, to live with one of her sisters.
Death
Even after retiring, Grace Vale sometimes gave talks about medical inspections in schools. She passed away in Black Rock on December 22, 1933. She was buried the next day at the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery. Grace never married and did not have any children.
