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the Sale of Opium Act of 1897, and later the
Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act of 1939. Under these laws, Aboriginal Australians had to obtain permits to work, leave the reservation, or marry. Any wages they earned were not paid directly to them, but to a "protector" who placed their wages in an account and managed the funds. When Stanley returned to Yarrabah in 1945, to work as the hospital matron, she successfully petitioned for an exemption from the law, so that her wages would be paid directly to her.
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was organized to protest these conditions. Some changes were made to improve the situation, but according to a Cairns newspaper report in 1959, conditions in the mission were still "appalling." In 1960, the
Anglican mission at Yarrabah closed, and the government of Queensland took control of the Yarrabah hospital and other facilities.
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During
Stanley's lifetime, many Aboriginal Australians living at Yarrabah experienced hardships, and their lives were subject both to governmental control and the rules set down by mission authorities. Restrictions were placed on indigenous Australians by the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of
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In 1959, Stanley moved to London, England, to attend a two-year
Anglican training program on moral welfare. When Stanley returned to Australia, she became a social welfare officer for the Anglican Church in Queensland. From 1961 to 1967, Stanley worked with Aboriginal Australian families in Cairns;
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In the 1950s, when
Stanley was working at the mission hospital, Yarrabah was chronically under-funded, rations were inadequate, and housing stock was in poor condition. There were accusations of mismanagement leveled against the superintendent, and frequent turnover in staffing. In 1957, a strike
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Stanley was working as an assistant teacher at the
Yarrabah mission school by 1937. Stanley's position at the school would have provided her better opportunities compared to other girls growing up on the mission; at the time, most girls at Yarrabah and other mission settlements went into domestic
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Stanley decided to pursue a nursing degree, and become a midwife. She was accepted into the South Sydney Women's
Hospital nursing program, where she completed an 18-month course. Since 1912, midwives in Queensland had to pass general nursing qualifying exams before being licensed to practice
121:. She became an obstetric nurse in 1945, making her one of the first Aboriginal Australians to become a registered midwife. She then served as matron of the Yarrabah mission hospital. She held this role from 1945 to until 1959. Leaving the mission, she moved to
204:, she is described as being "the first Aborigine to qualify in midwifery." Upon completing her training, she returned to Yarrabah where she took up the post of hospital matron. She worked in this role until 1959.
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in 1967, she was transferred to the
Woorabinda mission. In 1970, she was transferred again, this time to Brisbane. She left Brisbane to return to north Queensland, where she remained until her death.
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for a training course in moral welfare. She returned to
Australia and became a social worker for the Anglican Church in Australia, working in Aboriginal Australian communities in
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Anglican home missionary, obstetric nurse and social worker. Before earning her nursing degree, she served as the matron of a Church Army children's home in
184:, New South Wales. After completing her training, she began a career working in Church Army children's homes. After working in these institutions in the
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midwifery. Stanley had passed all the required nursing exams by
November 1944, and became a registered obstetric nurse in March 1945. In the
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people. Her parents were Luke and Jessie Ross (nÊe Kepple) Stanley. Yarrabah was a mission settlement run by the
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Stanley married Norman Gresham Underwood in St. Alban's Church in Yarrabah on 19 December 1970.
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Indigenous Australian Anglican home missionary, obstetric nurse and social worker
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308:, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University
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Stanley attended the mission's school, which had been designated an
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Find & Connect Web Resource Project â www.findandconnect.gov.au
113:(6 April 1918 â 18 May 1979), also known as Sister Stanley, was an
366:. The University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University
141:, Queensland, which is located on the traditional lands of the
196:, Tasmania, where she eventually became matron of the home.
417:
White Christ Black Cross: The Emergence of a Black Church
360:"Industrial School, Yarrabah Mission Station, Queensland"
241:, Queensland. She is buried in the Gordonvale cemetery.
468:"Our Community | Gurriny Yealamucka Health Services"
443:"Them Days: Life on an Aboriginal Reserve 1892-1960"
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Muriel Conomie Stanley was born on 6 April 1918, in
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176:In 1938, Stanley left the mission to study at the
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390:"Chapter 2 - Life under the protection acts"
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302:"Stanley, Muriel Conomie (1918â1979)"
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509:Indigenous Australians in Queensland
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151:removed from their traditional lands
388:Commonwealth Parliament, Canberra.
164:for "neglected children") in 1900.
306:Australian Dictionary of Biography
202:Dictionary of Australian Biography
104:Anglican mission work; social work
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237:Stanley died on 18 May 1979, in
88:midwife, nurse, hospital matron
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514:People from North Queensland
420:. Aboriginal Studies Press.
335:"Yarrabah | Communities U-Y"
147:Anglican Church of Australia
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333:Queensland, The State of.
153:by the state government.
212:Life at Yarrabah Mission
133:Early life and education
519:Australian women nurses
180:'s training college in
111:Muriel Conomie Stanley
61:Gordonvale, Queensland
35:Muriel Conomie Stanley
115:Indigenous Australian
72:Aboriginal Australian
441:Hume, Lynne (1991).
253:Nursing in Australia
42:Yarrabah, Queensland
529:Australian midwives
414:Loos, Noel (2007).
450:Aboriginal History
300:Huggonson, David,
173:service for work.
524:Australian nurses
472:www.gyhsac.org.au
427:978-0-85575-553-9
158:industrial school
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93:Years active
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475:. Retrieved
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55:(1979-05-18)
38:6 April 1918
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504:1979 deaths
499:1918 births
188:, and then
178:Church Army
69:Nationality
63:, Australia
53:18 May 1979
44:, Australia
493:Categories
370:7 November
264:References
239:Gordonvale
143:Gunggandji
127:Queensland
96:1937â1970s
477:8 October
399:3 October
258:Midwifery
182:Newcastle
245:See also
190:Armidale
139:Yarrabah
119:Tasmania
456:: 4â24.
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194:Hobart
168:Career
123:London
446:(PDF)
233:Death
479:2021
422:ISBN
401:2021
372:2022
346:2021
314:2021
50:Died
31:Born
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