Felicia Walmsley

Sarah Margaret Felicia Walmsley (1895 – 1971) was a New Zealand doctor and photographer.

Photography

Walmsley was a member of the Dunedin Photographic Society and wrote "A History of the Dunedin Photographic Society" which was published in the Australasian Photo Review in 1920.[1][2] She was accomplished in portraiture and artificial light photography winning prizes for her photos.[1] In 1916, she won a prize in the Dunedin Photographic Society competitions for her photo in the Seascape category entitled Evening Shadows.[3] In 1917, she won the first prize in the A.P.-R. Architectural Competition for her photo of cathedral pillars[4][3] and first prize for Lilies, a portrait of a woman holding lilies, in the A.P.-R. Home portrait or group competition.[5]

Following a trip to Fiji and Tonga in 1916 she had an essay on photography "To the "Summer isles of Eden" with a vest pocket Kodak" published in the Australasian Photo Review in 1918.[6] It described the photography techniques and methods she adopted after her half-plate camera was damaged and she had to rely on a Kodak Vest Pocket folding camera.[1][6] It seems most likely that she gave up art photography early in her medical career.[1]

Medical career

In 1919 Walmsley was studying at university[7] and in 1922, as a third year medical student, was one of ten women medical students including Muriel Bell and Helen Deem.[8] She qualified with her MB ChB in 1926.[8][9] In January 1928, she was appointed as a house surgeon at Gore Hospital moving to the same position at Timaru Hospital in August 1928.[10][11]

She gained a Diploma in Public Health from the University of London in 1931.[9][12] In 1932, she was appointed as assistant pathologist at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.[9][13] By 1935 she had returned to New Zealand to a position as house surgeon at Southland Hospital.[14]

Walmsley worked at Mount Coolon in North Queensland.[9] In 1936 she married Percival Raymond Fortescue Meredith, a former lieutenant with the RAMC, at Bowen in North Queensland.[15] Their nine year old son Evian Glendower Walmsley Meredith drowned in an accident in Dunedin in 1946.[16][17] At that time she was working as medical officer of health in Timaru.[9][18]

Walmsley died overseas[9] in 1971.[19] Probate on her will was granted in December 1971 in Dunedin.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Mitchell, Lissa (2023). Through shaded glass: women and photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860-1960. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Press. pp. 288–289. ISBN 978-0-9951384-9-0.
  2. ^ Walmsley, Felicia (15 April 1920). "A history of the Dunedin Photographic Society". Australasian Photo Review. 27 (4): 205–206 – via Trove.
  3. ^ a b "The A.P.-R. Prize Competitions". Australasian Photo Review. 24 (4): 218, 223. 16 April 1917 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "The Cathedral Pillars". Australasian Photo Review (Supplement). 24 (4). 16 April 1917 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "Lilies". Australasian Photo Review (Supplement). 24 (8): 416. 15 August 1917 – via Trove.
  6. ^ a b Walmsley, Felicia (1918). "To the "Summer Isles of Eden" with a vest pocket Kodak". Australasian Photo Review. 25 (1): 41–44 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "University of New Zealand examination results". Otago Daily Times. 8 November 1919. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  8. ^ a b Farquhar, Cynthia; Selway, Michaela (2025). Against the odds: New Zealand's first women doctors. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press. pp. 99, 285. ISBN 978-1-991016-98-0.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Wright St Clair, Rex (2013). Historia nunc vivat : medical practitioners in New Zealand, 1840 to 1930 (PDF). Cotter Medical History Trust. p. 386. ISBN 9780473240738.
  10. ^ "About people". Southland Times. 13 January 1928. p. 6. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  11. ^ "Personal". Timaru Herald. 22 August 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  12. ^ "Personal notes". Evening Post. 25 November 1931. p. 13. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  13. ^ "Personal notes". Evening Post. 27 April 1932. p. 13. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  14. ^ "Hospital Board". Southland Times. 16 August 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  15. ^ "Marriage". Evening Star. 10 November 1936. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  16. ^ "Lagoon tragedy". Evening Star. 23 November 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  17. ^ "Deaths". Evening Star. 23 November 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  18. ^ "Two Children and Young Man Reported Drowned". Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune. 23 November 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Papers Past.
  19. ^ "Dataset of Biographical information pertaining to New Zealand Women Photographers". data.govt.nz. July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Will of Dr S.M.F. Meredith". Ancestor Search Helper. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
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