Australian Dictionary of Biography

Sr Fabian Elliott, c.1960s

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne Archives Collection

Wilhelmina (Sister Fabian) Elliott (1911–1998), nurse, hospital administrator, and religious sister, was born on 17 January 1911 at Taree, New South Wales, elder child of locally born parents Thomas Elliott, dairyman, and his wife Elizabeth, née Payne. Raised on family farms at Ghinni Ghinni and Oxley Island, Mena (as she was known) excelled as a horsewoman, winning many equestrian competitions. She was educated at Oxley Island Public School and Taree High School, then trained as a nurse at the Manning River District Hospital, Taree. Registered as a nurse in 1935, she also completed midwifery training.

Having encountered the Sisters of Charity during her nursing training, in 1938 Elliott entered the novitiate at St Vincent’s Convent, Potts Point, Sydney, taking the name Sister Mary Fabian. Professed as a nun in 1940, she was a ward sister at St Vincent’s Hospital, Lismore, until 1944, when she was posted to the newly established St Vincent’s Hospital, Launceston. While in Tasmania, she obtained an obstetrics certificate at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Hobart.

In about 1946 Sister Fabian moved to Melbourne to work at St Vincent’s Maternity Hospital, then located in a terrace house on Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. She was given a leadership role in 1949 and by 1952 had been authorised by the State Health Department to manage the hospital. In 1960 she was appointed deputy rectress at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, but returned to Melbourne in 1963 as sister-in-charge of the Maternity Hospital. The care she provided for mothers and babies extended beyond their hospital stay; after arriving home the mother would find a hot cooked meal for her family, often delivered by Sister Fabian herself. She also offered the hospital’s care to impoverished and single mothers through a scheme that balanced the payment capacities of patients.

Sister Fabian was the driving force in the foundation of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, which replaced the smaller Mount St Evin’s Hospital on the Fitzroy side of Victoria Parade. Renowned for her tenacity and vision, she played a pivotal role in the realisation of the hospital, which also incorporated the existing St Vincent’s Maternity Hospital. In 1965 she attended the International Council of Nurses congress at Frankfurt, Germany, which influenced her thinking about hospital design. Overcoming significant financial hurdles, she rallied the support of the Melbourne business community, philanthropists, and government officials, including Premier Sir Henry Bolte, whose government legislated to provide guarantees for the project’s loans in 1969.

When St Vincent’s Private Hospital opened in 1972, Sister Fabian was appointed sister-administrator. In this role ‘her strong sense of professionalism and her insistence on high standards of administration … gained for the hospital a reputation for outstanding health care service’ (Duffy 1998). She travelled to the United States of America for several months in 1976 to study human resources and pastoral care. After resigning from St Vincent’s in 1984, she became involved in health liaison through an Order of Malta program for care of the frail and elderly, based at Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew. Retiring in 1989 she undertook part-time community health work, dedicating herself to the care of the sick and elderly in their homes, particularly at Fitzroy, Collingwood, and Richmond. Despite her numerous acts of kindness, including providing food to the homeless, she remained modest about her contributions to those in need.

In addition to her charitable works, Sister Fabian was known for her talents in tapestry-making, which she often pursued ‘through the night while at the bedside of the sick and dying’ (Herald-Sun 1998, 92). She also appreciated classical music, ballet, opera, photography, and the French and German languages, and was known to wander the streets and lanes of Fitzroy, feeding stray cats. Her tireless commitment to community service earned her recognition that included the Cross of Merit (1978) and Cross of Merit with Crown (1982) of the Sovereign Order of Malta. In 1985 she was appointed AO for her service to hospitals and nursing. She died on 30 June 1998 at the Mercy Private Hospital, East Melbourne, and was buried in the Melbourne general cemetery after a requiem mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral.