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water, which still needed to be collected from the outside, tap. Jessie thought it was about 1959 or 1960 that a real
kitchen and a new ward were built, improving their ability to care for people. Then in 1968 they had money but
not enough workers to build a new hospital. So a letter to the Noble Park church in Victoria brought a wonderful
response and a party of 28 including three women (to care for the workmen) arrived in April 1968 and in three
weeks the new hospital rose on the concrete base that had been put down in readiness. All were very pleased and
grateful for the greatly improved facilities.
Jessie tried to learn the local language but never became really fluent. During these years, there was sometimes
a second sister. Many sisters were introduced to remote area nursing by Jessie and many remained in this type of
nursing for many years after, thanks to the good grounding they received. She was renowned for her hospitality and
generosity. She was (and still is) an excellent cook and hostess to the many travellers passing through. For many
years she cooked the bread eaten by her own staff, though in later years she presented new female staff with a loaf
of bread and a recipe. Milingimbi during Jessie’s time remains in the memory of many as a very pleasant place to
be.
The range of her nursing services went from minor complaints such as scratches and toothache to more serious
problems. An example of the types of cases that presented was a man brought in with a stingray spike deeply
embedded in his leg. They could not get a plane in so Jessie removed the spike and sutured the resulting wound.
Midwifery cases would report for pre-natal examination, but when it came to labour would not report until the babe
was born and brought down to her. It was then accepted that she should provide clothes for the babe and aspirin,
tea and sugar to meet the needs of the new mother and her ‘djagamirri’, usually two women who had cared for her.
It was several months before they trusted Jessie to deliver a baby.
Jessie had two special daily clinics for tuberculosis and leprosy. Care of leprosy patients and a continuing watch
for new cases was a feature of her work. She designed and made special canvas footwear to cover the bandages
on damaged feet. Another area of special interest was family and child health which later when facilities permitted
was set up as a separate clinic. For many years Jessie had a feeding program for the ‘failure to thrive’ children.
Working conditions gradually improved. A kerosene refrigerator was bought in the late 1950s, replaced by
an electric one in November 1967. Once refrigeration was available, immunisations could be given, including
smallpox for coastal communities, as they had visiting Indonesian fishermen. Jessie was ever vigilant for cases of
any infectious diseases that could arrive by boat or aeroplane. During the 1950s and 1960s there were epidemics of
measles, influenza, gastroenteritis and sometimes typhoid. Her quarantining suspects greatly reduced the incidence
of these outbreaks at Milingimbi. Indonesians found themselves removed by customs and quarantine officials.
Jessie started health work at Nangala (pre Ramingining) on the mainland but not on a regular basis. This meant
a walk at first until she obtained a motorbike though she also travelled by tractor or light plane. There was much
untreated leprosy in that area at that time.
In 1971, Jessie was very weary and more nurses were available so she left Milingimbi and after a holiday began
to work in Darwin as a Baby Health Centre Sister. After a few months, she went to work in the Children’s ward
at Darwin Hospital. At the end of 1972, Milingimbi was short of nursing staff and was being serviced by Health
Department staff who went out for just a few weeks at a time. Early in 1973, Jessie returned to Milingimbi as a
Health Department staff member and remained there until she retired on 11 August 1980.
When Jessie turned 65, she was forced to retire but would have dearly liked to continue to work. The people
of Milingimbi asked her to retire there, but family responsibilities again claimed her attention. She returned to
Victoria to care for her elder sister. She managed to revisit Milingimbi and continued to have a keen interest in all
the happenings there.
On Queen’s Birthday 1972, Jessie Adele Smith was honoured by being awarded Membership of the Order of
the British Empire (MBE) for her services to Aboriginal health. She said that much she was able to achieve was
made possible by her supportive work colleagues. She was a Territorian of pioneering spirit.
Personal information.
PHILIPPA REANEY, Vol 3.
SMITH, JOHN HENRY (1868–1940), drover, bush worker, grazier and burcher, was born in Sliding Rock,
Victoria, in 1868 and married Catherine Ellen Moffat, born 1876, at Farina in South Australia in 1893. They had
four children, the first two, James Alfred, born 1895, and Francis Robert, born 1896, being born in Farina; then
Jack went to Queensland droving for a number of years. He returned to Farina and Catherine had the other two
children, Eileen, born 1908, and John Henry Jr, who was born in 1910 and died of Bright’s Disease at the age of
21.
The family headed north and Jack and Catherine went to work on Undoolya Station in 1910. Jack was
employed as a station-hand and Catherine as cook. At the time, according to stories passed down through the
family, Catherine was one of only 10 white women living in the Alice Springs area. The family must then have
moved around the Central Australian area working on various properties. They acquired Umbearra Station where
they ran sheep, plus horses, which were sold, to the army for remounts. Umbearra was sold and Jack and Catherine
moved to Alice Springs. Jack supplied meat for the gangs working on the railway line during the construction
of the old Ghan line and ran his own butcher’s shop in Alice Springs until his death in 1940. Once again family
stories state that his was the first butcher’s shop in Alice Springs, but this cannot be confirmed. Catherine ran a
dairy which (the family presumes) was supplying milk to the residents of Alice Springs; she had been running the
dairy in Farina before the family moved north. Catherine died in Adelaide after a long illness at sixty years of age,
survived by two sons.