Lady Gladys Nicholls
(1906-1981)
Lady Gladys Naby Muriel Bux (Baksh) was born on 21 October 1906 at the Cummeragunja Mission in New South Wales. Her mother, Alice Campbell, was a Yorta Yorta woman. Her father, Mehra Baksh was a migrant from India. He ran a general store in Barmah. Lady Gladys left her school at the mission at a young age to work in the general store. She then went to a nearby station for a job milking cows.
She married Howard Herbert Nicholls when she was 19 and they had three children. In 1939 they joined a mass walk off at the Cummeragunja mission because of the harsh treatment of the people. They eventually moved to Melbourne where Lady Gladys worked in a munitions factory in Maribyrnong. In 1942, Herbert Nicholls was in a car crash and tragically died from his injuries. Herbert's younger brother Pastor Doug Nicholls supported Gladys and the family during this time. Their bond developed and were married later. They proved a great team for advancing the lives of Aborigines. They had two children of their own and formed a combined family of two sons, Bevan and Ralph, and four daughters, Beryl, Nora, Lilian and Pamela. Lady Gladys taught Sunday school at Pastor Doug Nicholls’ Church on Gore Street, Fitzroy.
After the Second World War, the Aboriginal population grew in inner Melbourne. Aboriginal people were not at this point recognised as citizens so there was no government support. There was a rise in social issues, homelessness and poverty. Lady Gladys and a group of women helped raise money to support by organising an annual ball, sold homemade goods, including hand-sewed dresses, at weekly stalls and even operated a food truck. They opened opportunity shops in Fitzroy. Gladys was known to enjoy a chat with the community in these op-shops.
The Nicholls home was often a refuge for Aboriginal people in Melbourne needing a place to stay in times of need. Lady Gladys could see the need for a safe place for Aboriginal girls to stay when they came to Melbourne looking for work. The Victorian Girls Hostel Committee was set up. Doug saw a property become available in Cunningham Street, Northcote in 1956 and they were able to purchase it. The Aboriginal Advancement League was founded in 1957 and was able to raise funds for the hostel. The hostel opened in 1958 with 14 beds. It was later renamed Lady Gladys Nicholls Hostel. In 1962 further fundraising helped establish a hostel for boys.
Lady Gladys was the co-founder of the Aborigiana Advancement League’s Women’s Auxiliary. They gave school supplies to children in hospitals and provided support for ex-prisoners. She was also the founder and coordinator of the Aboriginal Children’s Christmas Giving Tree. She was involved with the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She was Secretary and Victorian State President of the National Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Council. Lady Gladys and her husband were advocates of the 1967 Referendum to include Aboriginal People into the Australian Census. This happened on 27th May 1967.
In 1972 Gladys and Doug Nicholls travelled to London where Doug was knighted. In 1977 her husband became the Governor of South Australia. As wife of the Governor she used the platform to continue to promote Indigenous rights. She passed away in 1981 at the age of 74. A statue to commemorate the significant contribution they made to the wellbeing and status of Indigenous Australians was erected in their honour in the Parliament Gardens in Melbourne in 2009
Sources
Grimshaw, Patricia. Gladys Nicholls: An Urban Aboriginal Leader in Post-war Victoria. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/fff/pdfs/nicholls.pdf
Lady Gladys Nicholls: An activist of great personal strength. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/lady-gladys-nicholls
Lady Gladys Nicholls Hostel. Retrieved January 21, 2021, from https://aal.org.au/programs/lady-gladys-nicholls-hostel/
Murray, Gary (2007). Biographies of Sir Douglass and Lady Gladys Nicholls. Retrieved 21 January, 2021, from www.melbourne.vic.gov.au › sitecollectiondocuments/nicholls-biographies.doc
Images
Lady Gladys Nicholls
