Cecily Maude O'Connell (30 June 1884 – 13 December 1965) was an Australian trade unionist and religious social worker.

Early life

Born Cecily Maude Mary O'Connell to Patrick Martin O'Connell and Rosina, née Hosking on 30 June 1884 at

Beaufort, Victoria Beaufort is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Western Highway midway between Ararat and Ballarat, in the Pyrenees Shire local government area. It is above sea level. At the 2016 census, Beaufort had a population of 1,539 ...

. Her father was a storekeeper and a cousin of Archbishop

Daniel Mannix Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia. Early years and Maynoo ...

. The family initially lived in Beaufort before moving to Kilmore via Bairnsdale and Walhalla. It was in Kilmore where her mother, Rosina O'Connell, died and as a result O'Connell was sent to Abbotsford, Melbourne.

Career and activism

She began to work as a teacher and got involved with the social work done by Sister M. Bernardine of St Vincent's Hospital and Sister M. Monica of the Good Shepherd Sisters. When she spent time working in a Tobacco factory O'Connell became a trade union activist and worked with the Labour Party. O'Connell represented the tobacco workers on the Trades Hall Council and at Political Labor Council conferences in 1915–16. About this time she turned down a position working for the

British-Australasian Tobacco Company The British-Australasian Tobacco Company Limited was an Australian tobacco manufacturer with offices in Sydney and Melbourne. The company was formed by a merger of the ''Dixson Tobacco Company Limited'' and ''William Cameron Brothers and Company ...

. Despite being a supporter of the Labour Party, O'Connell argued for state aid to go to independent schools. She was the first treasurer for the Catholic Women's Social Guild (Catholic Women's League) when it was founded in 1916. She worked to ensure women who were unemployed because of strikes had a place to stay. O'Connell worked as a nurse, training at the Eye and Ear Hospital and working during the 1919 flu epidemic. When she was 46 years old she founded the Company of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, also known as the Grey Sisters, in ''Kewn Kreestha'' house in

Daylesford, Victoria Daylesford is a spa town located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, within the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately 108 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. First established in 1852 as a gold-mini ...

. The house opened in 1930. The purpose of the organisation was to care for mothers and children. Mothers were able to rest in the house while their children were minded. The depression challenged the women working with the Grey Sisters. They provided cleaning, cooking, shopping and child care services for families with an ill mother or new baby. O'Connell assisted Muriel Heagney to begin the Unemployed Girls' Relief Movement. The Grey Sisters became a

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religio ...

in 1949.

Death and legacy

O'Connell died on 13 December 1965. Before she died the Grey Sisters had opened houses in Prahran, Surrey Hills,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

. The Company of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament has since 1986 been known as the Family Care Sisters (the Grey Sisters).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Cecily Maude 1884 births 1965 deaths Australian trade unionists Religious (Catholicism) People from Victoria (state) 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women Australian women trade unionists