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Home » Themes » People » Settlement
Mary GilbertPrint Page 
The bronze sculpture commemorates Mary Gilbert, the first European woman to migrate to Victoria. Melbourne City Council commissioned the memorial for the 1975 International Women`s Year.
Sculptor Ailsa O`Connor used her daughter as the model for the Mary Gilbert statue which is a bronze life-sized statue of a small woman to the hips.
Mary Gilbert was the first European woman to migrate to Victoria, the wife of a blacksmith in a small part who came to prepare the way for Fawkner`s settlement. In the 1830`s became the first European woman to give birth in the Port Phillip district. Her first child was called John Melbourne Gilbert.
Location
| Address: | Lansdowne Street & Wellington Parade, Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, 3002 |
|---|---|
| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.814085 Long: 144.97838 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Sculpture |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Settlement |
| Artist: | Ailsa O`Connor |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 1975 |
|---|
Mary Gilbert
First migrant woman settler
Ailsa O`Connor 1974
Mary gave birth to a son. The first white child born in the Port Phillip settlement on 29 December 1835.
As servants of John Pascoe Fawkner, Mary and her husband, blacksmith James Gilbert, were in the original party of settlers who landed from the schooner Enterprize on 30 August 1835.
