Statue celebrating Linton war doctor unveiled

A SCULPTURE commemorating a historic female figure born and bred in the region was unveiled on Tuesday morning as part of a ceremony which saw more than 100 people attended.

The bronze statue of Linton-born Dr Vera Scantlebury is now located at the town’s Avenue of Avenue and was commissioned through the State Government’s Victorian Women’s Public Art program.

The work is one of six celebrating notable women throughout the state and Minister for Women, Natalie Hutchins, who unveiled the statue, said it’s a step forward for gender equality.

“Women have been underrepresented when it comes to public art and statues,” she said.

“Unfortunately, there are 11 female statues across our state. There are more than 500 statues of men, horses, and dogs.

“It’s time to get the balance right. For young women, you can’t be what you can’t see.

“Having absolute trailblazers and legends like Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown being honoured here today and her story being put out about her achievements is a really important change.”

Born in 1889, Dr Scantlebury served as a surgeon during World War One before becoming the first director of infant welfare for Victoria at the Department of Public Health in 1926, where she established the infant welfare scheme.

Attendees of the unveiling included Dr Scantlebury’s descendants as well as representatives from the University of Melbourne, where she studied.

The statue is the result advocation to the State Government from Golden Plains Shire and the Linton and District Historical Society

The latter’s president Jill Wheeler said Dr Scantlebury’s is an important legacy for Linton, with the statue surrounds to see continued community development.

“The little girls and women in this town, to look at that and read the QR code [at the statue] and know what she did is inspiring,” she said.

“We’re working with the Wadawurrung on an Indigenous garden with indigenous plants. The school kids are going to be involved in some sort of decoration on the plinth.

“Council’s going to maintain the area around the gardens, and the Men’s Shed is making a seat… so you’ll be able to sit here.”

Sculptor Lucy McEachern was commissioned to create the work and said it was a unique challenge for her.

“I’m a professional sculptor of birds, so when we applied for this grant I didn’t really think about the follow-through of making a human,” she said.

“I was only given five photos of Vera because it was World War One and there was limited resources to work from.

“I made a maquette and enlarged her and went up to Brisbane to work on her face, her feet, and hands. We accessed her buttons from Melbourne Uni archives.

“I wanted to represent her in her uniform accurately because obviously she wasn’t acknowledged when she should’ve been.”