Mid North Coast Pioneers - Newcastle to Lismore and beyond

GRANNY RENNIE Born Mary Keleher in County Clare, Ireland, in 1832, the woman who became known throughout the Forster/Tuncurry area as Granny Rennie immigrated to Australia in early 1850s. She was known as a healer and midwife and assisted with the birth of more than 1000 babies in the area.

She was first married to French migrant Joseph Delore, and after their marriage in Queensland they moved to the Williams River and then to the Myall. The couple had 11 children and when Joseph died in 1879 Mary married Charles Rennie, the owner of Rennies Island in the Wallamba River.

Her name became legend as a healer and in 1901 local residents presented her with a purse of sovereigns for her work, mainly collected from those she had brought into the world from 1875 to 1901.

Granny Rennie died when her clothes caught fire at her home on Rennie Island in 1908. At her funeral at Forster Cemetery Sid Wright, the eldest living son of John Wright, said we saw the soil cover one of the best, kindest women Erin ever gave to Australia, describing her as trusty as steel, a faithful wife and a most loving mother.

One of her descendents, Jane Mayers, became the first registered nurse in the area, and although she had no formal training local doctors granted her a medical certificate on the basis of her practical knowledge.