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was 13 or 14 years old. Her mother was born in 1875 at Creswick, Victoria. There were seven children, four girls
and three boys. Her father was manager on farms at Kerang and Darraweit Guim before settling at Dandenong in
1923, where he was a market gardener. Jessie went to school mainly at Noble Park, then to Dandenong West when
it opened. For two years, she attended the Dandenong High School. As a girl, Jessie had red hair. She had blue/grey
eyes, was of medium height and build and wore glasses.
Jessie’s mother died on 16 May 1931 when Jessie was 16 years old. She did domestic work for two years at
two places in Dandenong before she began Mothercraft training at the Methodist Babies Home in South Yarra and
completed that course on 12 February 1936. Following this she took private work for three years. An older sister,
who had taken over the care of the family following their mother’s death, married, so Jessie went home to take over
the household for her father, three brothers and a younger sister. In 1948, another sister came home to care for their
father and Jessie was able to leave home to begin her nursing training at the Queen Victoria Hospital in October of
that year. She completed this on 9 November 1951. Her father died on 2 February 1952. She completed Midwifery
training at the same hospital on 6 June 1953. Jessie then went to the Methodist Mission Training College in Sydney
to prepare for missionary service. While there, she was appointed as Sister to Milingimbi.
Jessie left Melbourne on 17 November 1953 in the company of a teacher Dorothy Yates who was going to
Elcho Island. They had an eventful trip, commencing with the journey on the train to Adelaide, then on the Ghan to
Alice Springs on 19 November. On 23 November they left for Darwin by coach arriving at 6.30 pm the following
day. Dorothy flew to Elcho on 26 November. Jessie stayed on in Darwin gaining experience to help her become
aware of procedures and the problems that might arise. She made visits to Darwin Hospital, the Health Department
and Channel Island Leprosarium.
On 7 December, Jessie met Beulah Lowe, a teacher, for the first time, as she passed through Darwin on her way
on furlough. They were to work closely together at Milingimbi for many years.
Her journey continued on 26 December in company with the Reverend Gordon Symons and his family on the
mission supply boat Larrpan in company with another boat, Phantom, but a few hours later Phantom broke down
so they returned to Darwin. Bed on the boat was the hatch cover as Rita Symons and her children had the only
cabin. There were eight of them on the hatch, with legs over the edge, feet on the deck! They started out again at
2.00 am on 27 December but two hours later Phantom again broke down. This time her passengers (for Croker
Island) were taken on board Larrpan and they sailed on. Jessie did not enjoy the trip as she is a poor sailor and
the stops at Croker Island and Goulburn Island drew it out, but at last Milingimbi! All this in the wet season. The
Captain, Billy Wallilibu, was very concerned, as she could not drink the cups of tea he made for her. Finally she
arrived at the place she was going to spend the rest of her working life, with the exception of a few months in 1971
and 1972, at 8.00 pm on New Year’s Eve 1953.
Jessie was met by almost the entire population of Milimgimbi who came to see what the new Sister was like.
They had to wade through thick mud for the last 45 to 55 metres as the tide was out and the dinghy could not
be rowed any closer to the beach. The staff consisted of the Reverend Edgar and Mrs Nancy Wells and their son
James; Dr Smith, a retired doctor who had been there a few months, Doug and Hazel Peters (the farmer and his
wife). Over a welcome supper, Mr and Mrs Wells and Dr Smith told her a few things she would need to know and
then off to a bed that stayed still and was thus very welcome.
New Year’s Day 1954 was the commencement of Jessie’s lifetime work. Dr Smith showed her the dispensary—
a corrugated iron building about 15 feet by 30 feet with a single corrugated iron shutter in lieu of a window
(propped open by a length of wood) and a door at one end fastened by a padlock. A sink was at the opposite
end, the water for which was obtained from a tap outside. He showed her the medical records (not complete) and
introduced her to some patients, the medications and dressings (not plentiful as supplies had not come out with
them). Next morning Dr Smith left for Yirrkala on Larrpan.
Milingimbi had a population of about 500 at that time. On Fridays, more people would come in from the
surrounding islands and the mainland for ‘Store’. Employment was available for some men and women in houses,
the school, the dairy and the garden. Others brought in craftwork, paintings, carvings, mats and baskets made from
pandanus palm leaves. These were bought. All staff members manned the store on Friday afternoons Jessie was
only exempted if she had a sick person or woman in labour to attend to. Stores came from Darwin on the Mission’s
boats every few weeks and from Brisbane about four times a year. After a few weeks, a fortnightly mail plane
service commenced.
A medical plane came in about every six weeks bringing a doctor and a sister to check patients and advise on
treatments if the weather was suitable to land on the airstrip. An emergency call on radio could bring a plane out if
it was necessary to evacuate any patient to Darwin Hospital.
It had been stressed to Jessie that she was to begin to train one or more young women to assist as nursing aides.
Bonga was the first, and she stayed with Jessie for some years until her health made it necessary for her to give up.
By then her eldest daughter, Bilin had also joined the staff. Over the years Jessie trained many very capable nursing
aides who later came to be known as Aboriginal Health Workers. Training started with basic housework, such as
washing up and sweeping floors, and at first, Jessie often had to rewash the dishes and sweep the floor again until
the skill had been learnt. Over the years, Aboriginal nurses increased in numbers and in their ability to share the
work. They were trained to a high standard.
The Dispensary moved from the basic shed in which it operated to a Sydney Williams hut (a common post
war feature) divided into two; one half being the living quarters for Jessie and Beulah Lowe, the school teacher
and later linguist, a curtain giving each some privacy. This occurred about four months after her arrival and lasted
about a year until proper living quarters were available. The remaining section, the larger portion, was divided into
a dispensary, and a kitchen with a wood stove. A sink was available in the dispensary but again without running