A picture in time

Many of the photographs from the early years of Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor were taken by the community’s co-founder, Eileen O’Connor. Dr. Bill Perrottet, who frequently visited Our Lady’s Home as a young boy, recalls: “One day my sister Kath, Joe McGrath (Father McGrath’s nephew) and I, with Eileen O’Connor and her camera, frolicked over the rocks at Coogee Beach. A picture of us three sitting on the rock and taken by Eileen is still in my possession. This photograph was developed and printed by Eileen. On many occasions, I have seen negatives drying on lines stretches across the verandah adjacent to her room.” Bill’s aunt, Katie Lynch, was one of the foundation nurses and his mother, Martha Perrottet, was a staunch supporter of the community until her death in 1943.