GUERIN, JULIA MARGARET (BELLA) (1858-1923), feminist, political activist and
teacher, was born on 23 April 1858 at Williamstown, Victoria, daughter of Patrick
Guerin, penal sergeant, later governor of gaols, and his wife Julia Margaret, née
Kearney, both from Ireland.
View the full record at
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
Bella Guérin became the first woman to graduate from an Australian university when she was awarded her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne (number 255) in December 1883. She taught first at Loreto Convent, Ballarat then as lady principal of Ballarat School of Mines university classes, resigning upon marriage to Henry Halloran. A civil servant and poet, Halloran married Guérin on 28 June 1891 aged 80. Following his death Guérin married George D’Arcie Lavender.
Bella Guérin was politically active and a member of the suffrage movement. She became vice-president of the Women's Political Association in 1912, and later joined the Labor Party.
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October 1878
Passed the University of Melbourne Matriculation Examination, passing in Latin, English, French, Arithmetic, Algebra, Euclid and History
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December 1883
Awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne (number 255)
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29 June 1891
Married 80 year old Henry Halloran (died 19 May 1893) at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, she bore him a son, Henry Marco.
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1898 - 1903
Office-bearer with the Bendigo Women's Franchise League
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1904 - 1917
Teacher at schools in Camperdown, South Yarra, St Kilda, Parkville and Brunswick
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1 October 1909
Married George D'Arcie Lavender, 30 years her junior
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1912 - 1914
Vice-president of the Women's Political Association
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1913
Co-authored Vida Goldstein's Senate election pamphlet
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1916
Led the Labor Women's Anti-Conscription Fellowship campaign during the referendum
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March 1918
Appointed vice-president of the Labor Party's Women's Central Organizing Committee
View the full record at
Australian Women's Register