Celebrating Nancy McCallum – 15 November 1920 to 7 January 2022

NANCY “Nan” Dunstan was born in Barkly Street, Golden Point in 1920.

This was a time when one heard the work sirens of Sunnyside Mill, and looked out for carts of the rabbit trappers and Chinese market gardeners travelling through the streets of Mount Pleasant.

Nan attended Golden Point Primary School, Pleasant Street Higher Elementary School, and then, after a short time at an art course at the School of Mines, became a millinery apprentice at Tyler’s, later Morshead’s Department Store in the Bridge Mall.

In 1945, Nan married returned prisoner of war Austin McCallum of Mount Pleasant, and they built a house in 1947 opposite the Wesleyan Church in Morton Street.

Between the two of them, they did much to forge foundational institutions and services of Ballarat, and more broadly to support peace and social justice.

They had four sons, and through them Nan was involved with kindergarten meetings, with Mount Pleasant Primary School and the Wesleyan Sunday School.

In 1970, when her sons were leaving to study, Nan took on the role of honorary probation officer, bringing her into contact with pregnant teenage girls. With a group of similar church women, she established Lisa Lodge Girls’ Hostel.

Young women at risk were not forced to go to Winlaton in Melbourne, but could stay in Ballarat, continue to work or attend school, and to have a local support network.

Between 1970 and 1976, the Hostel accommodated more than 150 girls, before becoming a company and establishing another facility for adolescent girls with a disability, Hayeslee House.

By the early 2000s, Lisa Lodge launched a crisis accommodation program, Glendinning House, and in July 2012, Lisa Lodge merged with family service provider Berry Street.

Meanwhile, Nan supported her husband Austin in many projects that have made a significant improvement to Ballarat; the establishment of McCallum House for children with disabilities in 1955 – now employing over 130 people – the Central Highlands Regional Library, Ballarat Historical Society, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, and Sovereign Hill.

Austin received public recognition for his community work, but Nan’s work was more personal and deeply appreciated by the girls she helped.

Widowed prematurely in 1982, Nan continued with her active life, walking with the “Numbats,” travelling overseas with her friend Margot Senger, and remaining in regular contact with family members.

Until her final months, she remained politically astute and committed to social justice. She died at home, aged 101.

Mount Pleasant History Group’s Janice Newton interviewed Nancy McCallum in January of 2021.

– BY JANICE NEWTON