Mary Julia (Mollie) Tobin

	Born	March 16th, 1899 in North Fremantle, Western Australia
	Married	Spinster
	Died	June 17th, 1966 of cancer in East Melbourne, Victoria

Thomas and Alice and his two children set up house in North Fremantle, where Mary Julia (Mollie) was born on March 16th, 1899.

Anecdotal history says her birth had been difficult. It is believed that Molly suffered mild retardation because the doctor arrived drunk and during her delivery, oxygen was cut off to her brain. (With Leo, her next baby, Alice was very sick and Leo was given a full blood transfusion. He’d often joke that he was a blue blood!)

Mollie was a very delicate baby and Alice carried her around on a pillow to protect her from bumps.

Alice removed her from school when Molly was about 7 because children continually teased her.

Mollie’s flaming red hair was her pride and joy. She wore it long, brushed it continually and carried it around on a pillow. She loved to recite her place of birth address as – ‘Thompsons Road, Rocky Bay, North Fremantle.’

Mollie enjoyed visiting her aunts and often arrived unannounced at Nell Shanahan’s place in Brunswick.

After Alice died, she cared for her father as best she was able, but according to Leo Tobin (1932-2010) her nephew, she was a terrible cook. Apparently her housekeeping was lacking too. She was a heavy smoker for most of her life.

Mary Stanley, Nell Shanahan’s granddaughter, remembers Molly Rogers, a single mother with a little girl, been taken in as a boarder by Mollie at Kent Street. She was very kind to Molly and cared for her daughter, while Molly (Rogers) worked.

Mollie lived with various family members after her father died, never having had a home of her own and became very religious in her latter years.

Dorothy Tobin (1915 – 1999) spoke of her as been very reclusive and not much involved in family life. She took her meals in her own room rather than join in family meal times.

While on holidays at Lakes Entrance in January 1963, I remember visiting Mollie who was holidaying there with two friends. In the 1960s, while still in good health, each holiday was the highlight of her year. She and her friends used to stay in a cabin in a caravan park and I’d never seen her happier. [Denise]

On her regular visits to our home, I can still hear her saying to Mum on different occasions, ‘I wonder what my baby sister would have been like…’ [Denise]