Bella Guerin : Short Biography

Julia Margaret (‘Bella’) Guerin was born in 1858 at Williamstown, Victoria to Irish immigrant parents. In 1883 she received a BA from Melbourne University, thus becoming the first woman to graduate from an Australian university. She began a carer in teaching as well as contributing articles and poems to literary journals. A committed socialist, she was a strong advocate of women’s rights, including the right to vote. During World War I she led the Labor Women’s Anti-Conscription Fellowship speaking at meetings in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. She died in 1923 and is buried in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.

This Chronicle has been adapted by kind permission of the Aisling Society. The content has been inspired by the Aisling 20/20 Vision project, which forms part of a programme marking the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Consulate General of Ireland to New South Wales. 

The Aisling Society is an Irish Australian cultural society whose main interests are the study of the history, life, and culture of Ireland, and the effect of Irish heritage on Australian life.