Photograph of Bella Halloran (nee Guerin) with her son Henry. Julia
Margaret (Bella) Guerin, born in 1858 at Williamstown, Victoria, passed
the matriculation examination in 1878 and entered the University of
Melbourne in 1881, the first year women were permitted to do so.
She was the first woman to graduate from the University.
She completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1883 and a Masters in Arts in 1885.
In 1891 she married Henry Halloran with whom she had a son, also named
Henry. After his death in 1893 she returned to teaching (which was interrupted
by a short-lasting marriage to G.D.Lavender) and became a political
activitist for women and socialism. Bella died in 1923.
