Keats, Margaret Gwendoline

MBE BVSc (Melbourne 1923)   The first woman in Australia to graduate from a 4-year, University veterinary faculty.  Single handedly, she pioneered in rural practice in Northwest Victoria, serving an area of 11,000 sq. miles from the South Australian border to Bendigo in central Victoria, centred on Kerang, from 1923 until the 1950s.  She was appointed a Border Inspector of Stock in 1925 to maintain the health of stock crossing the Murray River at Gonn’s Crossing.  To provide the necessary legal authority to inspect stock, she was appointed as a Commissioner of the High Court as women were then not able to hold posts as Justices of the Peace.  Through this, she became the first woman and certainly first veterinary woman to hold this government position in both NSW and Victorian governments.

She was held in great respect by her clients especially for her assistance during Murray floods, the Depression and the opening of land grants to soldier settlers.

Miss Keats bred and raced thoroughbreds and supported the local turf industry.  She was honorary veterinarian for Kerang , Swan Hill, Moulamein and Gunbower Turf Clubs, and the Kerang Trotting Club and the Kerang Agricultural Society.   She was a mentor to women students and an employer of women graduates.  Her practice has been owned and worked by women graduates since her death in 1971.

She was a firm supporter of the Australian Veterinary Association, attending most Divisional meetings and at one, demonstrating her surgical technique for cryptorchidectomy in horses.  A grateful community has developed a collection of memorabilia on Miss Keats at the Kerang Historical Museum.

Miss Keats was awarded an OBE, Member of The Order of the British Empire, in January, 1959  Citation:  Veterinary surgeon in Kerang district in Victoria.

A more detailed biography can be found at http://www.vetsci.usyd.edu.au/avhs/eminent/

On Saturday 8 Mach 2008, Miss Keats had her name added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. The Honour Roll recognises Victorian women who have made a significant contribution in a particular field, or a lasting contribution that benefits the lives of other women and/or their communities in Victoria, Australia and internationally. More information can be viewed at http://www.vet.unimelb.edu.au/news/margaretkeats.html.