Jacqueline Moya O'Brien

Jacqueline Moya O'Brien (10 May 1926 – 22 October 2020) was an Australian nurse born in Darwin who spent much of her career as a nurse educator and improving nurse education in the Northern Territory.

Biography O'Brien was born in Darwin and was the daughter of George and Mary Seale who lived in Parap and her father had worked as a manager of the Vic Hotel and, at the time of her birth, was the manager of the Parap Club; she was their only child. She attended primary school in Darwin, first at the Parap and then Darwin primary schools and she remembered a tremendous childhood being a child in Darwin and that there was always something to do and that, even during the Great Depression she was part of a "house of plenty".

Despite this, finding limited opportunities in Darwin in relation to education she went to Sydney in 1938 to attend Presbyterian Ladies' College for high school as a boarder; she had not wanted to go and initially very much struggled there.

Awards and honours In January 1984 O'Brien was awarded the Order of Australia medal for services to nursing, especially nursing education and, on 25 June 1984, she received the insignia from Eric Johnston, the then Administrator of the Northern Territory, at a ceremony at Government House.

Oral history interview An oral history interviews with O'Brien are available through Library & Archives NT which were recorded in 1985 and 2017.