Name Mollie Gillen Role Writer | ||
Full Name Kathleen Mollie Wollnough Occupation Historian, writer, author Books The wheel of things, The Prince and His Lady, Lucy Maud Montgomery, The founders of Australia, The search for John Small - firs | ||
Mollie Gillen (née Woolnough; 1908–2009) was an Australian historian, researcher, writer and novelist. Her work on the First Fleet, in The search for John Small, First Fleeter and The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, explored the idea that many of the founding families of Australia were descended from the convict population, rather than those sent to guard them. Gillen's article Maud Montgomery: The Girl Who Wrote Green Gables instigated a new era in scholarship on Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Contents
History
Mollie Gillen was born Mollie Woolnough in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, the daughter of Dr. R. E. Woolnough and Bertha Grace Woolnough (née Youdale) in 1908.
At the age of 10, her parents died within a few months of each other: her father who was a medical doctor died from the epidemic of influenza due to tending many patients after WWI. Mollie grew up under the care of her grandparents. She graduated with a bachelor of arts from Sydney University in 1930.
She met her future husband, then a Canadian stationed in England, while working in London in the 1930s, and they moved to Canada after World War II.
Her writing career started in the 1950s. As a federal government information officer in Ottawa, she edited government journals. She was also active on the executive of the University Women's Club of Ottawa, serving as first vice-president.
Mollie's first mystery novel, Star of Death, was published in England in 1960. Also her many short stories were published in various publications including The Sunday Evening Post.
In 1961, she moved to Toronto and eventually became associate editor and staff writer for the Canadian magazine Chatelaine. Mollie published numerous articles for this women's magazine, concerning on social problems in the community.
Her research led her to write and publish many books on various topics important to Canada and Australia including: The Masseys: Founding Family (1965), The Prince and His Lady (1970), The Assassination of the Prime Minister (1972), The Wheel of Things: A Biography of L.M. Montgomery (1975), The Search for John Small (1985) and The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989).
In 1995, she received Hon.D. Litt. from her alma mater for her work on the First Fleet and the history of early Australia, and she also received the Order of Australia for her enormous contributions to her home country.
Later life
Dr. Gillen lived in Dolphin Square in London for many years before returning to Toronto, Canada. Dr. Gillen lived in a nursing home in Toronto, Ontario until her death 31 January 2009.