‘She Had Not a Baby Face': The death of Bertha Coughlan

• Main Author: Zoe Gray Carthew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Record Office Victoria 2006-10-01
• Series: Provenance : The Journal of Public Record Office Victoria
• Subjects: womens health; abortion
• Online Access: http://prov.vic.gov.au/publications/provenance/provenance2006/she-had-not-a-baby-face

In November 1922, Bertha Coughlan came to Melbourne from her remote and lonely farm in provincial Victoria. She had no mother, and her father and one remaining brother were not attentive. She had recently broken off her engagement and suffered the removal of all her teeth. Ostensibly, she came to the city to treat her chronic earache. But once there, she took the opportunity to remedy another, more scandalous, health issue. She separated from her negligent father and her disinterested family, and disappeared into obscurity. For years, Nurse Hannah Mitchell had run a lucrative private abortion clinic from her large townhouse in Richmond. In 1922, she was sharing the house with her daughter, her sister, her nephew and her many patients. When her third ex-husband, Frank Bonfiglio, suddenly returned in November to renew his affections, Nurse Mitchell’s reputation and practice were thrown into jeopardy. A dramatic procession of bloody and violent circumstances brought the very different worlds of Bertha Coughlan and Nurse Mitchell together – and to a tragic end.