MBE

Born

24 January 1916
Pinnaroo, South Australia, Australia

Occupation

Teacher

Summary

Daphne Gum, a trained primary school teacher who developed an interest in working with children with disabilities, became the director of the Spastic Centre established by the Crippled Children's Association of South Australia in 1946 at the Adelaide Children's Hospital. Following a temporary move to prefabricated classrooms at Kintore Avenue, the centre finally found a permanent and more spacious home in 1951 on the Anzac Highway at Ashford, and was known as the Ashford House for Cerebral Palsy Children.

Daphne Gum was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1960 for her work with children affected by cerebral palsy. She maintained her connection with her old school, the Methodist Ladies College, serving as president of the Old Scholars Association from 1979-1980 and wrote a history entitled A rich tapestry of lives, to celebrate the school's ninetieth birthday.

Sources used to compile this entry: Linn, Rob, Perseverance: the story of Spastic Centres of South Australia, Spastic Centres of South Australia, Woodville, South Australia, 1994, 174 pp. pp. 21-31..