Abbott, Mother (1846–1934)
Abbott, Mother (1846–1934)
Australian founder of St. Margaret's hospital. Name variations: Gertrude Abbott, Mary Jane O'Brien. Born Mary Jane O'Brien in Sydney, Australia, on July 11, 1846; died in Sydney on May 12, 1934; daughter of Thomas (a schoolmaster) and Rebecca (Matthews) O'Brien.
When Mary Jane O'Brien entered the order of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (founded two years before by Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods ), the 22-year-old assumed the name Sister Ignatius. "Influenced by Julian Woods," writes Chris Cunneen, "she and another nun claimed to witness visions." A scandal followed when the other nun was found to have fabricated the apparitions. Though blameless, O'Brien left the convent in July 1872 and returned to Sydney. There, she became known as Mrs. Gertrude Abbott, or Mother Abbott, and eventually founded St. Margaret's Maternity Home, which she managed for the next 40 years. By the time of Mother Abbott's death in 1934, St. Margaret's had become the third largest obstetric hospital in Sydney.