Award-winning musical honours RACQ founding member Dr Lilian Cooper
The wartime story of one of RACQ’s founders is featured in an award-winning musical touring Queensland this year.
Dr Lilian Cooper became Queensland’s first female doctor and Australia’s first female surgeon in 1891 when she emigrated from the UK.
One of Queensland’s first female motorists, she was one of the 18 founding members of the Automobile Club of Queensland (ACQ), which later became RACQ after the ‘royal’ prefix was added in 1921.
Written and composed by Sunshine Coast couple Katy Forde and Aleathea Monsour, A Girl’s Guide to World War includes the story of Lilian’s time working in a tent hospital on the front lines during World War I.
After being told they could not join Australian forces, Dr Cooper and her partner Josephine Bedgord joined a Scottish Women’s Hospital unit. Dr Cooper worked in a tent hospital near the Serbian front line from 1916.
The hospital was run by another courageous woman, Dr Agnes Bennett from Sydney.
Dr Lilian Cooper.
How Dr Cooper’s story made it to the stage
Katy’s interest in Dr Cooper’s story began after she noticed a plaque while walking past The Mansions, a heritage building on George Street in Brisbane. Dr Cooper set up her first practice at this address, and the plaque notes she lived there for many years.
“The minute you start going down that Dr Lillian Cooper rabbit hole, you just go, ‘Oh my God’,” Katy said. “My partner and I were really motivated to write a show about her.”
Produced by Sunshine Coast-based Musical Theatre Australia, A Girl’s Guide to World War is the culmination of a painstaking decade of research by Katy and Aleathea.
The Mansions on George St, above, and the plaque that caught the attention of Katy Forde.
Along with Dr Cooper and Dr Bennett, the show also highlights the role of Ms Bedford, who ended up running the hospital’s ambulance service.
All three returned to Australia as decorated war heroes.
“These women were bold and brave, and yet so few people know about their incredible achievements,” Katy said.
“We really want everyone – and especially every woman – to know about them.”
Katy said that despite the war setting, the story is filled with character, humour, and the love of its extraordinary protagonists.
“It’s just a rollicking good story – inspiring and uplifting – and woven around some stirring live music from the award-winning all-girl band Vix and the Slick Chix,” she said.
After its first run on the Sunshine Coast, A Girl’s Guide to World War won two Matilda Awards.
It was the first-ever regional musical to win the Matilda for Best New Australian Work, while also picking up the Best Supporting Actress Matilda for Susie French as Dr Cooper.
Susie French as Dr Lilian Cooper in A Girl's Guide to World War.
Where you can see A Girl’s Guide to War
On the back of that success, Katy and Aleathea secured funding to take the show on tour this year, with performances in Caloundra, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gladstone, the Redlands, and at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre in Brisbane.
Tour dates:
- Redlands Performing Arts Centre, 8 March
- The Events Centre, Caloundra, 14–15 March
- Gladstone Entertainment Convention Centre, 2 April
- Brolga Theatre and Convention Centre, Maryborough, 4 April
- The Moncrieff, Bundaberg, 5 April
- Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, 7–12 April.
What Dr Lilian Cooper did after the war
Dr Cooper returned to Brisbane in 1917, where she continued to practice medicine on the ground floor of her residence at Auckland House, located at the corner of George and Mary Streets.
In 1926, Dr Cooper and Ms Bedford bought a house called Old St Mary’s, near St Mary’s Anglican Church in Kangaroo Point, which they renovated to include consulting rooms.
Dr Cooper retired in 1941 and died at her home in 1947 at the age of 86, leaving her estate to her partner.
Ms Bedford died eight years later, aged 94, and was buried at Toowong Cemetery beside Dr Cooper.
Dr Cooper's Order of St Sava medal on display in St Mary's Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point.
Ms Bedford left Old St Mary’s to the Sisters of Charity for the establishment of a hospice for the sick and dying, in honour of Dr Cooper.
Mount Olivet Hospital was built on the site and opened in 1957. It was renamed St Vincent’s Private Hospital in 2008 after major renovations.
After the war, Dr Cooper was awarded the Order of St Sava medal by the Serbian king for her efforts on the front line. The medal is displayed inside St Mary’s Anglican
Church in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane. The church also features a stained-glass window commissioned after her death by Ms Bedford to honour of Dr Cooper’s life.
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