Hilda Clark was born into a Quaker family committed to social reform – anti-slavery campaigners and champions of women’s rights. Her powerful female family role-models, together with her religious faith, led Clark to become a doctor and to dedicate the rest of her life to administering medical and other humanitarian aid to civilian populations suffering the effects of war. Accompanied by her lifelong partner, midwife and fellow aid worker, Edith Pye, she established medical facilities and organised aid projects for starving and displaced civilian populations during and after two world wars. She was described by all those who knew her – admirers and critics alike – as an inspiring leader with remarkable organizational skills, humble, and devoid of personal ambition. She was driven, above all, by the simple ‘joy of doing right’.