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Louise Connolly Memorial
Louise Connolly Memorial

Photographs supplied by Diane Watson

The monument commemorates Aboriginal nurse and midwife, Louise Pepper Conolly who was of Kurnai descent.

Her mother was killed by squatters and she, in her grandsons’ words, ‘was overtaken and wounded by gun pellets’. Later, in search of her own people, she settled on the Ramahyuck mission. There she married Nathaniel Pepper, and the couple were given charge of children in the mission orphanage house.

Upon her husband’s death in 1877, Louise remained in charge of the orphanage which, at times, housed 20 children as consumption took its toll on the Kurnai. In 1886, government assimilation policy forced Louise and her family from Ramahyuck to Stratford. She was on call to many of the people who had been residents at Ramahyuck.

Location

Address:Main Street, Bairnsdale, 3875
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -37.826389
Long: 147.628889
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Indigenous

Dedication

Front Inscription

In honour of Louise Pepper Connolly, an Aborigine of the Bratauolong tribe in the period 1840 - 1920.

For many years she acted as a nurse and midwife for the Gippsland Aboriginal community.

Like many Aboriginal women, she played an important role in holding together family and cultural traditions. 

Source: MA,VMR
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au