Salome Jean White (1905 – 15 July 1974) was the first female flying medical doctor in Australia and the world when she commenced work with the Australian Inland Mission in May 1937. [1] [2] [3] [4] She was known as the Guardian Angel of the Gulf. [5] [6]
Salome Jean White was born in 1905. Her parents were John White ( - 26 January 1935), a school teacher, and Salome White (née Williams) ( - 15 June 1951) of 32 Havelock Road, Hawthorn. The family also owned a farm near Ballarat. She was the elder sister to John George Glyn White CBE (9 April 1909 - 2 November 1987) and Mary Margaret Freda White (later Guest), both of whom were also doctors. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
White attended Melbourne High School and received a scholarship to attend University of Melbourne, where she graduated in 1929 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. [14] [15]
She worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Adelaide Children's Hospital, Crown Street Women's Hospital and Caulfield Convalescent Hospital before responding to an advertisement for doctors to work in remote areas of Australia. [16] [17] [18]
She undertook four months of training at Cloncurry before being based with one nurse at Normanton. Together, with a pilot flying an aircraft donated by Qantas, they offered a seven-day aerial medical service covering 65,000 square miles of the Gulf Country. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] From September 1938, White was also supervising a newly opened nursing hospital at Dunbar Station. [24]
John Flynn was an Australian Presbyterian minister who founded the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) which later separated into Frontier Services and the Presbyterian Inland Mission, as well as founding what became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the world's first air ambulance.
Jean Ethel Burns was an Australian aviator. She was the first Australian woman to parachute from an aeroplane over Australia and held the title of being the youngest female pilot in Australia for 15 years.
Sir Thomas Walter White was an Australian politician and pilot in the First World War. In 1914 he became one of the first airmen trained for the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), and the following year he was among the first AFC members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the Mesopotamian Half Flight. After carrying out several missions behind Turkish lines, he was captured in November 1915 but escaped in July 1918. White was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He married Vera Deakin, a Red Cross worker and daughter of former Australian prime minister Alfred Deakin, in 1920.
James Garfield Bayley was an Australian politician. He was a Nationalist Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1917 to 1931 and a Country and Progressive National Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1935.
Constance Worth was an Australian actress who became a Hollywood star in the late 1930s. She was also known as Jocelyn Howarth.
Ruth Beatrice Fairfax was a founding member of the Australian Country Women's Association and the first President of the Queensland Country Women's Association. The federal electorate of Fairfax is named in her honour.
Donald Alaster Macdonald was an Australian journalist and nature writer, writing under the pen names including 'Observer' and 'Gnuyang' (gossip). He was considered one of Australia's widely known journalists, and is in the Melbourne Press Club's Australian Media Hall of Fame. He was credited with making 'Australian natural history and botany popular interests'.
Henry Stephen Bailey was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1914 to 1932 and from 1935 to 1950, representing the electorates of Port Fairy (1914–27) and Warrnambool. Initially an Australian Labor Party member, he served as Minister for Lands and Water Supply in the Prendergast and Hogan governments of 1924, 1927–28 and 1929–32, but was expelled from the party in 1932 during the 1931-32 Labor split and defeated at that year's election. He joined the Country Party in 1934 and won his old seat back for his new party in 1935, subsequently serving as Minister Without Portfolio (1935–36), Minister of Labour (1936), Chief Secretary (1936-43) and Attorney-General (1938–43) in the Dunstan government.
Dora Elizabeth Burchill was an Australian nurse, philanthropist and author.
Dorothy 'Dot' Stevenson was an Australian tennis player who was active in the 1930s.
Valda Emily Unthank was an Australian cyclist who held numerous records for long distance cycling, mostly set during 1938-39, most notably the women's seven day record.
Ann Flora Froude Flashman (Lady Rylah), (1911 - March 1969) was an Australian veterinarian. She was the first woman to enrol in the University of Sydney School of Veterinary Science and the first paid veterinarian at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in North Melbourne which had previously been an honorary role held by Belle Bruce Reid.
Marion Miller Knowles (1865–1949) was an Australian journalist, poet, writer and Catholic charity worker.
Elizabeth Britomarte James, also known as Mrs Britomarte James, was an Australian political reformer, women's activist and temperance advocate.
Tertia Stella Power was an Australian coloratura soprano, a protégée of Nellie Melba. She has been referred to as the "Little Melba".
Wirth's Circus, also known as Wirth Brothers' Circus, was Australia's largest and most prestigious circus company for eight decades. Billed as Australia's own 'Greatest show on Earth', the travelling circus held an international reputation.
George Alfred Russell was an Australian businessman involved in several business ventures, finally acting as Australian manager for the North British Insurance Company.
Marie Alice Bremner was an Australian soprano, remembered for performances in Gilbert and Sullivan operas. She became a favorite performer in musical comedy, first on stage, then revivals and variety shows on broadcast radio. She was popular with producers for her ability to take on key roles at a moment's notice and draw "rave" reviews. Her accompanist husband Ewart Chapple became a senior executive with the Australian Broadcasting Commission.
Georgina Temperley, BA MB BS, née Bourke was an Australian medical doctor, remembered as the founder of One Woman, One Recruit, a patriotic organisation in Victoria during the Great War of 1914–1918.
Ethel Castilla was an Australian journalist, poet and short story writer. She was one of the founders of the Austral Salon and is best known for her poem, "The Australian Girl".