Cecily Maude O'Connell (30 June 1884 – 13 December 1965) was an Australian

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and religious

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

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 2021 census, Beaufort had a population of 1,712 ...

. 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 Australian Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia. Early lif ...

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

Career and activism

O'Connell 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 The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, also known as the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, is a Catholic religious order that was founded in 1835 by Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in Angers, France. The religious sisters belong to a ...

. 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. 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 town located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, within the Shire of Hepburn, Victoria, Australia, approximately 114 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. First established in 1852 as a gold mining town, Daylesford has ...

. 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 (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

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, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. 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 People from Victoria (state) Australian women trade unionists Australian women activists Australian Catholics 20th-century Australian women