Remembering Matron Mary McGrath MBE

Mary Frances McGrath was born in Mackay on October 8, 1899. Her father worked as a blacksmith in the Homebush Sugar Mill until 1907. The family moved to Proserpine where Mr McGrath obtained a licence for the Great Northern Hotel (now Metropole) before moving to Bowen then finally returning to Proserpine to take up farming at “Greenclyde” between Gregory and Foxdale.

Mary McGrath began her long nursing career at the Mackay Base Hospital, training for three years before receiving her nursing certificate in 1928 then accepting her first position at the Lister Hospital in Mackay. To further her career, she went to the Lady Bowen Hospital in Brisbane where she studied to become a Midwifery Nurse, being registered on March 29, 1930.

Mary’s first association with nursing in Proserpine began in that same year when she worked for Dr Uren at his private hospital in Chapman Street. When this hospital closed, she continued with Dr Uren doing private nursing before taking on a position at Proserpine Hospital which at the time was situated on Crystalbrook Road where the council depot is now situated. Nurse McGrath was appointed Matron in 1931.

In 1934, a decision was made to move the hospital to its present site in Herbert Street. This was undertaken over a long period of time and must have been a difficult and frustrating time for Matron McGrath keeping the hospital running smoothly and caring for patients in two different localities.

The Proserpine Hospital was declared a training hospital in December, 1936. Training nurses to the highest possible standard was very dear to Matron’s heart and she was a major contributing factor in the success achieved by the hospital in its Nursing Training Programme. Matron McGrath was well known in hospital circles throughout Queensland and any nurses who were the product of her training were assured positions when applying elsewhere.

Nurses who trained under Matron McGrath would remember her disciplinarian ways. These were the days when it was compulsory for nursing staff to live in the nurses’ quarters and not only was their on-duty time fully disciplined, so too was some of their off-duty time. Pity the nurse who arrived back a minute after curfew at midnight!

Matron McGrath tried to enlist in World War Two however she was refused on the grounds that she was providing an essential service. So, as Matron, she weathered the challenges brought about by the war – the shortages of drugs and food and no hope of replacing or acquiring equipment. When the air raids sirens sounded, patients had to be transferred to the air raid shelters.

Matron McGrath had a very personal approach to patients. Besides doing her allotted shifts, she would spend quite a lot of her off-duty time comforting relatives or organising staff in an emergency. She also made abundant use of her midwifery training and many a mother would stop her in the street and remind her that their child was one of “her babies”.

On her retirement in 1964, a testimonial ceremony was held at the Proserpine Showgrounds with several hundred people gathering to pay tribute to Matron McGrath’s remarkable service of over thirty-four years in the community.

In 1966, she was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honour List – worthy recognition of a lifetime’s service and devotion to the nursing profession.

Matron McGrath passed away at the Bundaberg Nursing Home on November 4, 1972. Her funeral was held in Proserpine – a fitting place for her to be laid to rest – a place where she had become a legend in her lifetime.

Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum.

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