Researched and compiled by T.J., E.R. and R Bancroft,

Dr D. Mackerras, and Diana Hacker. 2003

A short biography of Dr. Josephine Mackerras nee Bancroft

Her early childhood was spent on her parent’s farm at Deception Bay (1896-1906) and later the family home in the cleared scrubland of Alderley, near Kedron Brook (1906-1907). When she was twelve years of age, she moved with her parents to the mining township of Stannary Hills (1908-1909), on the Atherton Tableland. Her teenage years were spent studying in Brisbane.

The influence of her parents, particularly that of her father Dr. Thomas Lane Bancroft (1860-1933) undoubtedly laid the foundations of her meticulous approach to scientific collecting and classification. Josephine was a pilot and at the age of 47 years became a doctor and a soldier during WW2. She was a crucial link in the chain of laboratory and clinical researchers which formed a team who achieved ultimate success in the control of malaria among Allied troops in the Pacific War.

A truly remarkable woman

50 x A4 pages with Historical B&W photos and maps.