Elinor Wray
Elinor Caroline Wray | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 October 1899 Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 4 February 1992 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Known for | established the first speech therapy facility in Australia |
Elinor Caroline Wray MBE (30 October 1899 – 4 February 1992) was an Australian speech therapist.
Life
Wray was born in Chatswood in 1899. Her father did not approve of daughters with minds of their own, but that is who she was.[1] She went to school in the Sydney suburb of Beecroft and she established an interest in amateur dramatics and in elocution.[2]
She saved up enough money to go and study speech therapy[1] at the Central School of Speech and Drama and St Thomas' Hospital in London, as well as observing speech therapy practice at St Bartholomew's Hospital and King's College Hospital.[3] She then spent three months observing at the London County Council Stammering Centres before returning to Sydney in 1929.[4]
When she returned she could not establish herself as a speech therapist and she became a nurse. She met Robert Wade who was an Australian orthopaedic surgeon and he supported her ambition. The first speech therapy clinic opened in 1931 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children with Wray in charge.[1]
On 13 June 1981 she became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her contribution to speech therapy in the 1981 Birthday Honours.[5]
Wray died in St Leonards in 1992.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Maloney, Diana, "Elinor Caroline Wray (1899–1992)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2024-06-01
- ^ a b "Elinor Caroline Wray (1899-1992)". Hornsby Shire. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ http://www.chw.edu.au/site/directory/entries/speechpath.htm
- ^ "Speech Therapy Helps Children". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 March 1949.
- ^ "Miss Elinor Caroline WRAY". Australian Honours Search Facility. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
