VN June 2020

Vetnews | June 2020 33 (Editor’s note: My apologies for the poor quality of the pictures – these were all cropped from the class photographs of the time) Veterinary science a century ago was regarded as the preserve of men, and this is reflected in the numbers of graduates who were women in the first 40 years of the Onderstepoort Faculty’s existence: only ten! In addition, several of these women remember being actively dissuaded from embarking on a veterinary career, or being given a hard time while they were students. These sturdy, determined pioneers deserve our recognition and respect, and in the centenary year of this faculty we will give a brief outline of the life and work of each one. Should anyone have more information to contribute we will welcome further details. 1. Joan Morice Joan Morice was the first woman to graduate as a veterinarian from the newly created (1920) Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary Science. Born in Barberton in South Africa, she had her school education in England. However, she returned to South Africa in 1922 making history by enrolling for the veterinary course at Onderstepoort. She qualified in 1927 but apparently only took up her first appointment in September 1928 as a temporary veterinary officer in Onderstepoort’s Allerton Laboratory in Pietermaritzburg for a few months, terminating her services on at the end of the year. She ventured into a practice of her own in Johannesburg, apparently the first Onderstepoort graduate to take this enterprising step. After her marriage in 1930 she was joined by her husband, Maurice Robinson, who qualified at Onderstepoort in 1928. Private practice was, however, not a permanent career for either of them. Discontinuing her involvement in 1935 she started doing charitable work for the SPCA and the so-called Bantu Animal Welfare Association in Johannesburg. Sadly, Joan died from lung cancer at an early age in 1944. 2. Maud Bales Nineteen years elapsed before Joan had a successor, Maud Bales. Maud was born in Johannesburg, matriculating at Parktown Girls’ High School with a first class pass. Determined to become a veterinarian, she initially had to turn to medicine at the University of Witwatersrand for 2 years before she was selected for the veterinary course at Onderstepoort. Though she had been in poor health from the latter part of her school days, she never complained and few realised how seriously ill she was. However, she persisted despite poor health and passed her final examinations successfully to qualify as a veterinary surgeon in 1946 and embark on a short- lived veterinary career that was full of promise. Ill health however caught up with her and she sadly died on 16 December 1947, just a year after graduating. Her bereaved mother provided funds to the Onderstepoort Faculty for the Maud Bales Bursary , which still exists. 3. Sheila Mavis McLoughlin Little information could be traced on Mavis, as she was known to her fellow students. Like her predecessors, she was the only woman in the class. THE FIRST FOURWOMEN TO GRADUATE AS VETERINARIANS FROM ONDERSTEPOORT DID YOU KNOW ? Rudolph Bigalke and Gareth Bath >>> 34