In Celebration of "International Midwives Day", Tuesday , 5 May 2020
Brief history of some of Otautau & Districts earliest and most interesting midwives... 1. Biddy McCoy or McLoy (nee Clerkin) In 1847, Mary Anne (or Biddy) as she was known, was tried and convicted at 19 of stealing a goose, in Ireland; this was during the years of the great famine, where 2 million starved to death. She was then transported to Tasmania to serve a 7 year sentence. © Artists impression of Biddy McCoy/McLoy, from her criminal records description; used with permission from family After marrying John McLoy, also a convict and him going missing after arriving in NZ (presumed drowned), Biddy had to fend for herself in the strange new land she had adopted, and ended up becoming very well known as the keeper of the Gropers Bush Hotel (just south of Otautau), from about 1857. Biddy was well known to be an expert sportswoman, with both a knife and a gun. She seems a real character and this is probably what got her through the tough times. In 1870, after