[citation needed] Ethel Turner Stoneman was born in Perth, Western Australia on 10 August 1890.

Her parents were Minnie Caroline (née Farmer) and coffee importer Charles Edgar Stoneman.

[8] Stoneman went to Britain and Europe in 1924, including at the University of London, where her work involved assessing the emotions of patients of the Bethlem Royal Hospital.

[1] She was appointed to the State Psychological Clinic in Perth when it was established in 1926 and remained its director until it was abolished in 1930, following a change of government.

[9] She also lectured at the University of Western Australia, where her teaching encouraged Norma Parker, who later became a pioneer social worker.