Marie Montgomerie Hamilton

Marie Montgomerie Hamilton (April 7, 1891 – November 2, 1955) was an Australian pathologist and hockey administrator. She opened a veneral disease clinic for women and led the All-Australia Women's Hockey Association. Life Hamilton was born in 1891 in Sydney. Her parents were the UK-born Minnie Redfearn and her husband Hugh Montgomerie Hamilton - her father had been a successful sportsman and was an eminent judge. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College in Croydon, where she excelled at sports and academically. In 1913 she became the coach of the Presbyterian Ladies' College hockey team. She went on to qualify as a doctor at the University of Sydney and to play for their hockey team. Her younger brother, George Redfearn Hamilton, was severly injured in World War one and her fiance was killed. In 1926 she was an assistant medical officer at the new Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children. She and Elsie Dalyell OBE began research concerning veneral disease in women. Treatment was difficult as penicillin would not be available for many years. Elsie Dalyell had been a committee member of the hospital since 1925 and in 1927 she and Hamilton started a clinic for venereal diseases at the hospital.