Janet Irwin

{{Infobox person

| name = Janet Irwin

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM|size=100%}}

| birth_name = Janet Rickord McCall Smith

| birth_place = Rawene, New Zealand

| birth_date = 14 September 1923

| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|3|20|1923|9|14|df=y}}

| death_place = Nelson, New Zealand

| alma_mater = University of Otago

| known_for = Activism for child and women's health

}}

Janet Rickord McCall Irwin {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM|size=85%}} (née Smith; 14 September 1923 – 20 March 2009) was a New Zealand medical practitioner who also worked in Australia. She specialised in student and women's health at the University of Canterbury and University of Queensland, and was an activist for women's health and broader social issues.

Early life

Irwin was born in Rawene, New Zealand, on 14 September 1923. She was the daughter of Lucy Smith and Dr George McCall Smith, the founder of the Hokianga area health service.{{Cite news|date=27 Jun 2009|title=Liberal medic and feminist|page=D20|work=Press (Christchurch, N.Z.)|url=https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-press/20090627/282686158208640|access-date=12 October 2021|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173746/https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-press/20090627/282686158208640|url-status=live}} She had one brother, Jock, who died at the age of 10 in 1932.{{Cite book|last1=Parkes|first1=W. F|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/156767299|title=A Northland legend: Dr G.M. Smith of Rawene, 1883–1958.|last2=Auckland Medical History Society|date=2004|publisher=Auckland Medical History Society|isbn=978-0-476-00851-9|location=Auckland, N.Z.|pages=15, 26|language=English|oclc=156767299}} She had four half-siblings in Scotland from her father's first marriage to Barbara Grieve. In 1914, her father had left his first wife and children in Scotland and travelled to New Zealand with one of his patients Lucy Scott whom he married in 1921.{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=Frank |title=Smith, George Marshall McCall biography |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4s32/smith-george-marshall-mccall |access-date=7 October 2024 |website=Te Ara. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand}} One of her father's grandsons from that marriage is the law professor and writer, Alexander McCall Smith.{{Cite web |date=2014-07-04 |title=Renowned Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith has link with Northland |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/renowned-scottish-author-alexander-mccall-smith-has-link-with-northland/3325LUJVV3PHB2TZMYLLOXQUIQ/?c_id=1503450&objectid=11265724 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}}

Career

Irwin studied medicine at the University of Otago for almost five years but disappointed her father by getting married before completing her degree. After her marriage ended she returned to medical school and graduated in 1963.{{Cite web|date=2020-05-25|title=Graduate roll|url=https://www.earlymedwomen.auckland.ac.nz/graduate-roll/|access-date=2021-10-12|website=The Early Medical Women of New Zealand|language=en-NZ|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930223032/https://www.earlymedwomen.auckland.ac.nz/graduate-roll/|url-status=live}}

She worked at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh after winning a scholarship to study psychological problems in young people. Concluding that “every child should be a wanted child” she began campaigning for abortion law reform.

Irwin took up a position at the University of Canterbury in student health, advocating on health issues of students especially women students.

From 1974 to 1978 she was director of Student Health Services at the University of Queensland.{{Cite book|last=Currie|first=Susan|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/247666148|title=The activist life of Dr Janet Irwin and my activist response in researching and writing her story|publisher=Thesis|year=2017|access-date=12 October 2021|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027183849/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/247666148|url-status=live}} She was also the university’s first sexual harassment conciliator. While living in Australia she served on government bodies on immigration, social welfare, health, women and criminal justice including the Better Health Commission and Criminal Justice Commission. Other spheres of activity included the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, the Brisbane Women’s Network and other lobby groups.

Honours and awards

Irwin was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1991 for service to women’s affairs and the community.{{Cite web|last=|title=Dr Janet Rickord McCall Irwin|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872893|url-status=live|access-date=12 October 2021|website=Australian Government. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet|archive-date=26 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026232312/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872893}} She was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001.

Personal life

Irwin’s parents, who were opposed to her marriage, did not attend her wedding to Air Force officer Peter Irwin in 1944.{{Cite news|date=24 January 1944|title=Irwin–Smith|page=5|work=Auckland Star|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19440124.2.81.1|access-date=12 October 2021|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027181826/https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19440124.2.81.1|url-status=live}} McCall Smith’s role at the wedding was fulfilled by Douglas Robb. The Irwins lived at Paraparaumu. In 1948 her parents moved to Waikanae from Rawene to live near their daughter's family. The Irwins' marriage ended in 1962. They had three children.

Irwin died in Nelson on 20 March 2009.{{cite web |url=http://customer.nelson.govt.nz/cemeteries/plot_records/11639 |title=Plot record details |publisher=Nelson City Council |access-date=13 October 2021 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022221235/http://customer.nelson.govt.nz/cemeteries/plot_records/11639 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Ddeaths |title=Death search: registration number 2009/7950 |website=Births, deaths & marriages online |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |access-date=13 October 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121225940/https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/search?path=%2FqueryEntry.m%3Ftype%3Ddeaths |url-status=live }}

A biography of Irwin A Prescription for Action: The Life of Dr Janet Irwin was published in 2016.{{Cite book|last=Currie|first=Susan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/960839531|title=A prescription for action: the life of Dr Janet Irwin|date=2016|isbn=978-1-925333-83-1|language=English|oclc=960839531}}

Publications

Furnival CM, Irwin JR, Gray GM. (1983) ‘Breast disease in young women. When is biopsy indicated?’ Medical Journal of Australia. Vol. 2, no. 4 p.167–9. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb122396.x. PMID 6877161.
Irwin, J, De Vries S, Wilson, SS, & Sparling, J. (1998). [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154700298 Raising girls: The pleasures, the perils, the pitfalls.] Brisbane, Qld.: Pandanus Press.

References

External links

[https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/the-life-of-dr-janet-irwin/8401854 ‘The life of Dr Janet Irwin’ on ABC, 2 April 2017]
[https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:a112077 Janet Irwin interviewed by Eddie Clarke, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, 11 July 2006 on UQ eSPACE]

Category:1923 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:People from the Hokianga

Category:20th-century New Zealand medical doctors

Category:20th-century New Zealand women medical doctors

Category:Members of the Order of Australia

Category:New Zealand women's rights activists

Category:New Zealand people of Scottish descent

Category:University of Otago alumni