Ethel Turner Stoneman (10 August 1890 – 5 July 1973) was an Australian psychologist. She was the first person to graduate with a Master of Arts (Psychology) from the University of Western Australia and the first State Psychologist appointed in that State.[citation needed]

Ethel Stoneman
Stoneman in 1930
Born
Ethel Turner Stoneman

(1890-08-10)10 August 1890
Perth, Western Australia
Died5 July 1973(1973-07-05) (aged 82)
Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Other namesEffie Stoneman
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia

Early life and education

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Ethel Turner Stoneman was born in Perth, Western Australia on 10 August 1890. Her parents were Minnie Caroline (née Farmer) and coffee importer Charles Edgar Stoneman. Her mother died a year later and she and her sister Ivy were brought up by Lydia Farmer, their maternal grandmother.[1]

Stoneman studied at the Teacher's Training College in Perth in 1909.[1] The following year she and Ivy were elected members of the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia.[2] In 1913 she began study at the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1916 with a BA (hons)[3] and in 1919 was the first person to graduate with a MA (psychology) there.[4][5] Her MA thesis was titled "Studies of Personality".[6] In 1916 she attended Stanford University in California where she learnt about intelligence testing and abnormal psychology.[1]

Career

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Having returned to Perth in 1919, she was appointed lecturer at the Teacher's Training College.[7] In 1921 Stoneman, as senior lecturer at the College, gave evidence at the WA Education Commission into mental defectives, recommending that a clinic be established to work with juveniles facing the Children's Court to determine their mental abilities.[8]

Stoneman went to Britain and Europe in 1924, including at the University of London, where her work involved assessing the emotions of patients of the Bethlem Royal Hospital.[1]

She was appointed to the State Psychological Clinic in Perth when it was established in 1926 and remained its director until it was abolished in 1930, following a change of government.[7] Her work included the assessment of the intelligence of children and assigning them to suitable apprenticeship and jobs.[9]

She also lectured at the University of Western Australia, where her teaching encouraged Norma Parker, who later became a pioneer social worker.[1]

Next, Stoneman went to Scotland where, in 1933, she graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a PhD. In 1935 she published her PhD thesis into attempted suicide, Halfway to the hereafter.[10][11] After a year back in Perth, she moved to Melbourne to work as a consulting psychologist.[7]

Stoneman died in hospital in Diamond Creek, Victoria on 5 July 1973.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Jan, "Stoneman, Ethel Turner (1890–1973)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 5 October 2022
  2. ^ "Natural History and Science Society of W.A." The Daily News. Vol. XXIX, no. 10, 926. Western Australia. 16 June 1910. p. 5. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "University Degrees". The Daily News. Vol. XXXV, no. 12, 858 (3 ed.). Western Australia. 27 April 1916. p. 5. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "W.A. University". The Daily News. Vol. XXXVIII, no. 13, 776 (3 ed.). Western Australia. 29 April 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ Gaynor, Andrea; Fox, Charlie (January 1993). "The Birth and Death of the Clinic: Ethel Stoneman and the State Psychology Clinic, 1927–1930". Studies in Western Australian History (14): 87–101 – via Informit.
  6. ^ Stoneman, Ethel T (1919), Studies of personality, retrieved 6 October 2022
  7. ^ a b c d "Stoneman, Ethel Turner". Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Education Commission". The West Australian. Vol. XXXVII, no. 5, 987. Western Australia. 25 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Finding a Good Job". The West Australian. Vol. XLV, no. 8, 440. Western Australia. 9 July 1929. p. 14. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ Stoneman, Ethel Turner (1935), Halfway to the hereafter : an enquiry into the motivation of attempted suicide, [s. n.], retrieved 6 October 2022
  11. ^ "Suicidal Motives". Kalgoorlie Miner. Vol. 41, no. 10, 472. Western Australia. 8 October 1935. p. 7. Retrieved 6 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.