Mary Glowrey House
Short-term accommodation is available for members, people visiting Melbourne, or for relations of people who need to come to Melbourne for treatment at outpatient clinics. Phone bookings are essential.
Mary Glowrey House is also the headquarters of the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga Inc.
Dr Mary Glowrey, the first woman to graduate from Melbourne University as a doctor, accepted the role of first President of The Catholic Women’s Social Guild (now known as the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga Inc.). The Guild was formed in 1916.
Mary Glowrey was born in Birregurra in the Western District of Victoria and spent her youth in a number of Mallee towns. At 13 she left home for Melbourne to further her studies and she passed her Matriculation examination at the age of 14.
Being too young to attend University, she studied further subjects at Matriculation level. On being accepted at Melbourne University, she began an Arts Degree. Upon prompting from her father, she changed her course and studied for a medical degree. Having finished her studies at University, she then traveled to New Zealand to complete her Hospital internship.
Having accepted the appointment as President, Mary Glowrey served for a period of three years. During this time, she traveled widely throughout Victoria, promoting the Guild, encouraging women to open Branches in local Parishes and exhorting all to assist women and children in times of travail.
Dr Mary resigned from the presidency in 1919 to study for the very high medical degree – M.D. She took out the Degree later in 1919.
In 1920 she embarked on a journey to India to practise medicine there. She subsequently joined the Dutch Religious Order of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – the Order of nuns who staffed the hospital where she was working. She took the name of Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart. At the time of her profession, she received a dispensation from the Holy See to continue her medical career. This was the first time a person belonging to the Religious Order was permitted to practise medicine.
Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart continued her work in India, in charge of the nuns’ hospital at Guntur, South India, until she died in Bangalore in 1957.