User:UCD2018/sandbox

Florence Stoney

Florence Stoney (1870-1932) was an Irish pioneering radiologist. She was born in Dublin into a scientist family, with her father being the physicist George Johnstone Stoney and several of her family members pursuing scientific careers. After attending Royal College for Science of Ireland, she obtained a medical degree from London School of Medicine for Women in 1898. She would then come to specialize in radiology.

Stoney was responsible for the organization of the X-Ray department at the Royal Free Hospital and later became head of the electric department at the New Hospital for Women. In 1906 she set up a practice in Harley Street.

With the outbreak of World War I, Stoney and her sister offered their services and equipment to the British War Office, however they were refused, mainly on the grounds that they were women. Stoney then joined the volounteer organization Women's Imperial Service League hospital unit, where she served abroad as head of X-ray department and of staff in makeshift hospitals.  For this she and her unit earned the 1914 Star for bravery.

In 1915 Stoney was appointed the role as head of the X-Ray and electrical department at the Military Hospital in Fulham. She was one of the first female physicians that were granted to serve as full time workers under the British War Office.

Stoney received the Order of the British Empire in June, 1919.

Stoney passed away in 1932 after a painful period of illness, namely vertebral cancer, largely attributed to the repeated exposure to radiation during her career.

Early Life

London School of Medicine for Women, where Stoney obtained her M.D.

Florence Ada Stoney was born in 1870 in Dublin to parents George Johnstone Stoney and Margaret Sophia Stoney. Her father was mathematical physicist, who would later serve as Secretary of Queens University, and was an advocate for women's right to higher education in Ireland. His efforts are considered to be a principal reason that women could qualify for medical license. Florence, who was of weak health as a child, was at first privately educated in the home, but then attended Royal College for Science of Ireland with her sister Edith. In 1893 the Stoney family moved to London in order to provide higher education for the daughters since it was still not avaliable for women in Dublin. Stoney attended London School of Medicine for Women where she was a distinguished student and received honors for her academic achievments in subjects such as anatomy and physiology, and she obtained her medical degree (MD) in 1898. Florence worked at London School of Medicine for Women as an anatomy demonstrator before she became a pioneer within the field of radiology.