 Elizabeth Mary Gorey was born on July 4, 1880 at Corop about 18 months after the tragic death of her three-year-old sister Margaret. The family knew her as Mary, but as a young single woman she went by the name of Elsie. She signed documents during the First World War, relating to her brother Charles, as Mary Tennant. Mary would have attended the Corop State School, about two miles from the farm her father worked from 1886 to 1889. She continued her education at Angustown near Whroo when the family moved there. The school was originally known as Bailieston North. The Rushworth Chronicle reported on the school concert in its issue of November 27, 1891. Mary and her cousin Emily Gorey sang Three Little Flowers, which was "considered the gem of the evening" and was unanimously encored. There was a dialogue, Keeping School, in which Miss M Gorey (Mary) acted as teacher. Mary was a bright and ambitious young girl who felt stifled by the relative poverty and isolation of her environment. She saw no future in staying at home cleaning up after her brothers and father. At the age of 16 she left her parents to live in Rushworth, where according to oral tradition, she worked in a Chinese laundry. About 1898-99 Mary was among the first group of nurses to be formally trained at Mooroopna Hospital. She is referred to as working there in a book "Hospitals are People" by Geoffrey Nice. The book describes the harsh working conditions experienced by nurses at that time. "The nurses, with two wardsmen, looked after an average of 63 patients and, in a working fortnight, each sister and nurse was on duty alternately 12 and 14 hours a day. They were granted one afternoon off every week and on those days they worked eight hours. "On alternate Sundays half the staff were off from 10am and on those days there were four working hours. This gave an average working week of 81.5 hours. "There was some concern over these hours and, although the secretary said the nurses had not much to do in the afternoons, a sub-committee was formed to go into the matter of reducing the working hours. "The sub-committee's recommendation, which was accepted by the committee, was that a scullery maid be appointed to relieve the nurses on duty. By this means every nurse could have two hours daily off duty, thus reducing their hours of work by 14 hours per week." Despite the long hours, Mary found time to attend a dance where she met a young policeman, Charles Tennant. They were married on May 14, 1902. In 1905 the couple moved to Cobram where they lived for 15 years. This was close enough for Mary to retain contact with her family. Her mother, Sophia, lived for a time at Cobram after the birth of Mary's youngest daughter Mabel in December 1917. About this time an influenza epidemic hit the region and Mary went back to nursing. In "Hospitals are People" Geoffrey Nice states that nursing staff increased from 10 to 17 in 1918 and to 24 in 1919 to cope with the influx of patients. During the First World War, Mary took a keen interest in the welfare of her brothers. She passed on their details to the Cobram Soldiers Committee, which sent parcels to servicemen comprising newspapers, magazines, tobacco and other gifts from home. Charles Gorey gave his sister's name as next of kin when he enlisted, so Mary would have been kept officially advised of his many injuries. She sought special permission for him to disembark at Melbourne on his return journey, as Charles had enlisted at Brisbane. Mary's husband, Charles Tennant, was transferred to Russell Street in 1920 and earned promotion to Senior Constable. From there he had stints at South Melbourne (1921), Prahran (1922 and 1925), Mentone (1924) and Warrnambool (1929). He was promoted to Sergeant in 1925, Sub-Inspector 1928, Inspector 1930 and Superintendent 1933. Mary and Charles had contrasting but complementary personalities. She was headstrong and spoke her mind. He was quiet and thoughtful. They retired to live in Mentone about 1935 and Charles died in 1936 aged 62. Mary always retained an active interest in her seven children. She also kept in contact with her brother Michael and his family while they lived at Dalmore (up to 1935) and Drouin. Her granddaughter Dawn Hewitt recalls that Mary visited the family regularly. "She used to come and have holidays with us and we'd go down to her house at Christmas time," Dawn said. "Nana enjoyed having us there and used to get us tickets for Luna Park." Mary's nephews and nieces said their aunt was a rather severe woman who had very strong opinions. Dawn shared this memory and said her grandmother could be "quite cutting" in her comments, but this never offended family members who knew her nature was generally affectionate. Mary's large family meant she had to have a very organised household. All the children had certain tasks to perform and she was thorough in seeing that they each did what was expected. She was a loving wife and mother. Mary had several major illnesses including a kidney disease, which required the removal of a kidney, and a long period of recovery. She cold no longer do all the household duties and one of her daughters (Elsie) left school to become the housekeeper/cook. The family enjoyed social gatherings and on Sundays, in particular, there was usually a large gathering for lunch followed by afternoon activities and tea. After Charles died she moved back to Brighton Beach. She was a keen bowler and card player. She enjoyed visiting her various children and their families. She was always interested in her many grandchildren (eventually 13 in number), nephews and nieces and their activities, but to them she was always a kindly old lady who dressed in sombre colors and who did not really demonstrate affection. This was how grandparents of that era tended to deal with grandchildren. She had very long grey hair which she wore in a bun at the back of her head, but as a plait which reached her lower back when she went to bed. She became quite deaf in her later years and this made communication difficult despite the hearing aid, which always seemed to be faulty. She stayed for a time in Warrnambool with Elsie, Arthur and their family. She helped with some of the cooking, bottling fruit and some of the other family duties. Periodically she went to Melbourne to stay with other daughters. Mary was active in Presbyterian Church affairs until her death on November 8, 1959 at Mordialloc/Cheltenham Community Hospital from "broncho-pneumonia, uraemia and arteriosclerosis". She was buried at Cheltenham Cemetery on November 10, 1959. |