Constance Frost

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} '''Constance Helen Frost''' (23 June 1862 – 29 January 1920) was a New Zealand medical doctor, bacteriologist and pathologist.

== Early life == Frost was born in 1862, probably in Liverpool, England, the second of eight children of wealthy shipowner and merchant Thomas Frost and his wife Mary Ann, {{Nee}} Antwis.<ref name=":3">{{CiteQ|Q104657105}}</ref> She was educated at a boarding school in Sutton Coldfield.<ref name=":3" /> Her family moved to New Zealand when she was about 17 years old, settling in Onehunga.<ref name=":0">{{DNZB|last=Anderson|first=Kathleen|id=3f14|title=Frost, Constance Helen|accessdate=27 September 2019}}</ref>

== Career == In 1889 Frost enrolled at Auckland University College, and received her BA in 1892.<ref name=":3" /> She later enrolled in the University of Otago Medical School, and graduated with MB, ChB in 1900, alongside Alice Woodward, Daisy Platts, and Jane Kinder.<ref name=":0" /> Women doctors did not find it easy to gain positions, but Adelaide Hospital had severe staff shortages (see Margaret Graham), so Frost was able to move to South Australia and gain a temporary residency position.<ref name=":0" /> In 1902, Frost was appointed as assistant bacteriologist, in charge of the laboratory for 18 months.<ref name=":0" />

In 1903 Frost returned to New Zealand and set up her own practise as a doctor,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201835856/the-'hidden-figures'-of-new-zealand-science |title=The 'hidden figures' of New Zealand science |date=8 March 2017 |work=Nine to Noon |publisher=RNZ |accessdate=6 August 2017}}</ref> and became an honorary bacteriologist and pathologist at Auckland Hospital. Taking over from Alice Horsley, Frost was the second woman to hold this position.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Constance Frost|url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1867-1917/constance-frost/|access-date=2021-02-05|website=Royal Society Te Apārangi}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> For the first ten years of her employment at the hospital, Frost was the only woman physician.<ref name=":3" /> Despite acknowledging Frost's skill as a bacteriologist, Auckland Hospital continued to advertise for a male replacement and renewed her temporary honorary position annually for fifteen years before finally upgrading it.<ref name=":2" /> In 1911 a senior resident, Charles Maguire, who was not accepting of women doctors, was appointed. Despite this, support from Dr Florence Keller, who was the sole woman member of the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, resulted in a small honorarium for Frost from 1913, in recognition of her increased workload, which would have impacted her income through private practice.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Eventually, in 1918, Frost's position became full-time and she was paid £500 per year.<ref name=":0" /> When Frost died in 1920 the man who replaced her was paid double.<ref name=":2" />

== Death == Frost remained unmarried.<ref name=":0" /> She died at home in Auckland on 29 January 1920 after contracting influenza through her work.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1920|title=Dr Constance Frost|journal=New Zealand Medical Journal|volume=19|page=28}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> She is buried in the Purewa Cemetery in Auckland with other members of her family.<ref name=":3" />

In 2017, Frost featured as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words, celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.<ref name=":2" />

== References == {{Reflist}}{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Constance Helen}} Category:1862 births Category:1920 deaths Category:20th-century New Zealand women medical doctors Category:20th-century New Zealand medical doctors Category:Medical doctors from London Category:New Zealand bacteriologists Category:New Zealand pathologists Category:Women microbiologists Category:University of Otago alumni Category:British emigrants to New Zealand Category:Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic Category:Burials at Purewa Cemetery