Table Of ContentSpringer Biographies
Edith and
Florence Stoney,
Sisters in
Radiology
ADRIAN THOMAS
FRANCIS DUCK
Springer Biographies
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Adrian Thomas Francis Duck
Edith and Florence Stoney,
Sisters in Radiology
AdrianThomas FrancisDuck
FacultyofHealthandWellbeing, FormerlyUniversityofBath
SchoolofAlliedandPublicHealthProfessions Bath,Somerset,UK
CanterburyChristChurchUniversity
Canterbury,Kent,UK
ISSN2365-0613 ISSN2365-0621 (electronic)
SpringerBiographies
ISBN978-3-030-16560-4 ISBN978-3-030-16561-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16561-1
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We wish to dedicate this book to our wives,
Di Duck and Johanna Thomas, and for their
unfailing support and encouragement without
whom this book would never have been
written.
James Johnston
Stoney
1759–1824
m. (1) Catherine m. (2) Letitia
Baker
George William (Rev.) James (MD) Robert (LLB)
Sarah Eliza Catherine
1792–1835 1795–1874 1800–1900 1802–1887
m. Anne Blood m. Fanny m. Hellen m. Ann Smithwick m. Sam m. Capt. m. James
1801–1883 Going Dillon 1806–1892 Cusack Rathbourne Sayers MD
Johnston (Rev) Robert (DD) Charles (MD) Margaret Sophia Hugh (MD) Anne
1934–1920 1840–1931 1840–1907 1843–1872 1845–1878 1806–1892
m. 20 Jan 1863
Anne Frances Catherine (Kate) George Johnstone Bindon Blood
1822–1859 Harriett 1826–1911 1828–1909
m. Rt Rev 1824–1887 m. Frances
William
For children see Walker
Fitzgerald
chart 2
Maurice George (FRS) 5 other Priscilla Anne George Laura
1850–1927 1851–1801 children 1882–1869 1884–1871 1891–1909 1894–1970
StoneyFamilyTreeChart1
George Johnstone
Stoney DSc FRS
1826–1911
m. Margaret
Sophia Stoney
1843–1872
George Gerald Robert Bindon Edith Anne Florence Ada Gertrude
DSc FRS MD MA MD OBE Beatrice
1863–1942 1866–1914 1869–1938 1870–1932 1871–1955
m. Isabella m. Louisa
Lowes McComas
Archibald Madge Gerald William
1894–1994 1895–1981 1897–1975 1899–1988
m. Theresa m. Leslie East m. Marjorie m. Alma
Round Barnett Syer
Diana Prudence
4 children 1 child
b. 1929 b.1930
Dorothy Edith Florence Alexander
b. 1925 b.1927 b.1930 b.1932
StoneyFamilyTreeChart2
Preface
Thisbookisthetruestoryoftworemarkablesisters.Onebecamearadiologist,and
theotherbecameamedicalphysicist.Theirlivesmovedfromtheirunusualupbring-
ing in Dublin, to higher education in which they both excelled, and into careers in
medicinethateventuallyresultedindeepinvolvementintheuseofX-raystomanage
thewoundedsoldiersduringtheFirstWorldWar.EdithandFlorenceStoney were
pioneersandcanlayclaimtonotablefirsts.Florencewasthefirstwomantopractice
radiology inBritain, both diagnostic and therapeutic. Edith was the first woman to
practice medical physics. She was also the first woman to be awarded the
M.A. degree from Trinity College Dublin. Florence was the first woman doctor to
beemployedinaBritishMilitaryHospital.Thesewereallremarkableachievements.
Florence Stoney’s name emerged as the only woman in the otherwise purely male
worldofearlyradiology.Inbothcases,whatlittlewelearnedofthesetwosetthem
apartandmadetheirlivesandworkworthyofinvestigation.
We, the authors of this book, are a radiologist and a medical physicist. Our
interest in the histories of our own subjects led us to come across the two sisters
quiteindependentlyfromoneanother.Inonecase,duringresearchforabookonthe
history of medical physics, an entry for E. Stoney in The Lancet as a lecturer in
physicsin1899openedadoortotheoldersisterEdithandherextraordinarylife.In
the other case, an interest in early radiology necessitated an acquaintance with a
remarkable woman radiologist. There is also the memory of a dear friend, the late
Jean M Guy, MD, FRCR, DHMSA (1941–2012), and the many hours spent
discussingtheradiology pioneersingeneral andtheStoneys inparticular[1]. Jean
was a recipient of the Johnstone and Florence Stoney Travelling Studentship at
NewnhamCollegefor1963and1964.
Our search has led us to visit the leafy Victorian suburbs of Dublin, the grand
portals of the old Royal Free Hospital in Gray’s Inn Road in London, the ancient
colleges of Cambridge and the exclusive medical practices of Harley Street. We
followedthemtoAntwerpandback,toCherbourgandback,toSerbiaandSalonika
and the final battles in France during the summer of 1918. The impact of the First
ix
x Preface
World War on their lives was such that almost half of the pages in this book are
devotedtothisperiodinhistorywithitsprofoundimpactonallwholivedthroughit.
The title of the book is slightly misleading. Certainly Florence and Edith each
made their own contributions to radiology as it emerged as a distinct medical
specialty during the first decades of the twentieth century. But the use of X-rays,
for both diagnosis and treatment, was only one of a wide range of electrical
technologies that were being developed at the same time. Florence was a Medical
ElectricianwhenshefirstusedX-raysattheRoyalFreeHospitalinLondon.Atone
time or another, both sisters treated patients with electrical currents of a variety of
formsfrombatteriesandmainselectricity;theyusedhigh-frequencyoscillatorsand
diathermy and treated patients with infrared and ultraviolet radiation. They used
electric stimulation to test for nerve injury. In order to use these technologies
effectively,theyneededaclearunderstandingoftheunderlyingscienceandalogical
rationalefortheirclinicaluses.ThecombinedtalentsofEdithandFlorenceensured
thesewereinplace.
The search for evidence has taken us to archives in London, Southampton and
Glasgow, in Dublin and Cambridge and in Bournemouth and Royaumont. Many
archivistshavebeenenormouslyhelpfulinoursearchforevidence,andthearchives
thatwehaveusedareacknowledgedattheendofthebook.Suchrecordsareoften
limitedtoofficialdocuments,summariesofwhathappened,bereftofpersonaldetail.
We are particularly grateful, therefore, to several members of the extended Stoney
familywhohavegivenusaccesstoprivatefamilypapersandpictures.Inparticular,
Alex Stoney, their great nephew living in Australia, allowed us access to his
complete digital archive of family papers, from which we could gain greater
understanding of their Irish ancestors. These papers also included transcriptions of
lettersfromthesisterstotheirAustraliannephewduringthe1920sandearly1930s.
These letters have allowed us to soften, and to make more personal, the story of a
period in their lives that might otherwise have been limited by evidence in more
formalsources.ItwasadelightthatEdithMcKinnon(néeStoney),theirgreatniece,
was able to recall Edith’s visit to Australia in 1934, with the help of her daughter
FrancesSmith.
Nearer home, butmore distantlyrelated,we havebeengreatlyhelped byClaire
Keohone, whose great-grandmother’s cuttings book held several fascinating and
informativeitemsaboutEdithandFlorenceandtheStoneyancestors.Sincerethanks
are due to these members of the Stoney family for sharing their private family
records.
EdithandFlorenceStoneylivedtogether,travelledtogetherandworkedtogether.
They supported one another during the turbulent decades at the beginning of the
twentieth century as the world they knew as children shifted and fractured. They
werebornintheUnitedKingdom ofGreatBritainandIreland. Bytheendoftheir
lives, the city of their birth, Dublin, was in another country, and their Protestant
background was being consigned to history. Home Rule for Ireland polarised
opinionasprofoundlyasBrexit.
The First Word War caused the conditions that created radiology as a distinct
medical specialty, and they were actively a part of that. During their lives, radio
