Mary Gertrude

{{Short description|Australian missionary, nurse and religious leader (1884–1965)}}

{{Other people}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox religious biography

| honorific-prefix = Mother

| name = Mary Gertrude

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| religion = Catholic

| denomination = Roman Catholic

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| order = Sisters of St. John of God

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| known_for = establishing hospital for leprosy patients

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| nationality = Irish/Australian

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| birth_name = Anne Greene

| birth_date = 1884

| birth_place = Killard, Clare, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date|1965|2|20|df=y}} (aged 94)

| death_place = Broome, Western Australia, Australia

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| parents = Thomas and Bridget Greene

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| title = Provincial superior

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Mary Gertrude {{post-nominals|country=AUS|MBE}} (born Anne Greene, 1884–1965), was an Australian nurse and provincial superior, and a member of the Sisters of St. John of God.

Early life

Born in Killard, County Clare, Ireland, she settled in Australia around 1905.

Vocation

She worked as a nurse in hospitals run by her order in Western Australia. In 1929, she began serving at the order's mission in north Western Australia, where she was influential in securing a hospital for Aboriginal Australian patients with leprosy. She cared for patients in the hospital for ten years.{{Citation|last=Clement|first=Cathie|title=Anne Greene|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/greene-anne-10357|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=2021-07-24}}{{cite book |last=Robson |first=Charmaine |date=2022 |title=Missionary Women, Leprosy and Indigenous Australians |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Missionary_Women_Leprosy_and_Indigenous/vtqREAAAQBAJ |location=Cham |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=72-116 |isbn=9783031057953}}

Mother Mary Gertrude was appointed provincial superior of her order in the North-West in 1947, and served two six-year terms. She became a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1948.{{Cite web|last=Melbourne|first=National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of|title=Greene, Anne - Woman - The Australian Women's Register|url=https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE4439b.htm|access-date=2021-02-05|website=www.womenaustralia.info|language=en-gb}} After her service as provincial superior, she was appointed superior of the Sisters of St. John of God convent in Derby.

Death

She died as the result of a car accident in Broome, on 20 February 1965. She is buried in the Broome cemetery.

References