Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph, the first Catholic order founded by an Australian. She and her order established schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor. She was the first Australian to be canonised as a Saint by the Catholic Church.

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James Hardy Vaux was an English-born convict transported to NSW. He is probably the dodgiest convict ever and was, in fact, transported three times. But he also wrote the first full length autobiography in Australia and the first Australian dictionary.

Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com