WALLER, Louisa

Louisa Waller was born in Benalla, Victoria on 29 January 1887, the daughter of local storekeeper Charles Richard Waller (c1856-1932) and his wife Jane Matthews (1859-1936). She was the fourth of the couple’s fourteen children.

Perhaps it was the death of several siblings as infants and children that attracted Louisa to the nursing profession or perhaps it was the attraction of city life. Whatever the reason, in 1908 at the age of 22 she paid her £10 entrance fee and began training at St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy. Her address at the time was 84 Gipps Street, East Melbourne. Ill-health interrupted her training for six months but did not prevent her from completing the requirements for the Royal Victorian Trained Nurses Association.

War Service

Two of Louisa’s brothers enlisted in 1915 ­­– William James who fought at Gallipoli and Walter Rupert who served in Egypt (see links below). Both had been wounded, which may well have prompted Louisa to join the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) in 1917.

From her medical examination details she was slight in stature and weight, her “physical development and pulse rate Fair”. She listed her mother Jane as her next of kin, with the common address of 1117 Hoddle St, East Melbourne. Various members of the Waller family lived that six room terrace house in that period, including Louisa (nurse), Mabel (milliner), Walter (barman), father Charles Richard (gardener) and mother Jane (home duties).

Louisa left Melbourne on the "Indirra" on 26 November 1917. She landed in India three weeks later, disembarking at Bombay. She worked at the Deccan British Military Hospital, Poona. The hospital treated the sick and wounded from Mesopotamia, and was staffed mainly by Australian nurses. (Nearly 600 AANS, mainly from Victoria served in India between 1916 and 1919.)

While in India, Louisa fell in love with Indian-born Horace Percival Conyers Brown (1890-1975), a lieutenant/acting captain in the Indian Army Reserve several years younger than she. They may have met in the hospital or at the Bombay Officers Club where AANS members sometimes relaxed. They married in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Name in Bombay on 22 February 1919.

After the War

Louisa’s appointment in the AANS was immediately terminated in India on her marriage. The couple returned to Australia to see her family and for the birth of their son, John Percival, in early 1920.

Horace joined the regular Indian Army, and saw action in the Burma uprisings of the early 1930s. He retired in 1933 with the rank of captain.

The Conyers-Brown family then moved to New Zealand, where their names appeared from time to time in the social columns of the papers. 

They were living in Wharangei on the North Island when war broke out in 1939. Son John enlisted in the New Zealand Air Force and rose to the rank of Wing Commander. Horace enlisted in the New Zealand Army, served as Northern District Commander, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

In 1940, at Horace’s behest Louisa sought her medals for her service in the AANS. She received in due course the British War Medal and the Discharged Returned Service Medal. The Australian Army curtly informed her that "There is nothing on record to indicate you qualified for the award the Victory Medal also". The reason - that India was not recognised as an official theatre of war so, unlike her brothers who had served in Gallipoli, Egypt and France, Louisa was not entitled to the award - was not explained by the army correspondent.

Louisa died in May 1971, aged 85. Horace died in December 1974, also 85. They are buried in the Wharangei Cemetery, New Zealand. Their son John died in New Zealand in 2006.