Margaret Dolan

Margaret Dolan was born in 1877 at Tower Hill near Koroit, Victoria (not to be confused with Koroit, Queensland), the daughter of John Dolan and Mary Ann Tobin.

Margaret trained as a nurse and enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) in Melbourne on 28 November 1916. She embarked for overseas service aboard the Orsova just days later, on 6 December 1916.

She served in France and England during the First World War, working at several major hospitals. In 1918, she was posted to the 5th Stationary Hospital and later to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Southall, Middlesex, and the 1st Australian General Hospital at Sutton Veny. She was hospitalised with influenza in December 1918 and granted leave before returning to Australia on the HMT Kashmir, disembarking in Melbourne in April 1919. She was discharged on 23 October 1919.

In 1929, Margaret took up a position as the Bush Nursing Association nurse at Lightning Ridge. She served there until 1930, a time when the opal field remained isolated and underdeveloped. During her time at the Ridge, she signed a petition advocating for the establishment of a town reserve and held a mining claim of her own.

In 1931, Margaret transferred to Rye Park to replace Sister Walters as the local BNA nurse, as reported in the Yass Tribune.

In the 1930s, a nurse named Sister Smedley found Margaret’s World War I service medal beneath the linoleum in a building and handed it in to the Bush Nursing Association’s central office. Whether it was returned to Margaret is unknown.

Margaret Dolan died on 16 November 1942 in Terang, Victoria, at the age of 65. She is remembered for her service during wartime and her continued work in remote communities during the interwar years.

• Margaret Dolan @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Australasian Nurses’ Journal; Walgett Spectator, 6 June 1929, 19 December 1929, 4 December 1930.