A portrait of one of the State's first female councillors has been reunited with family members.
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Lavina Anna Murray (1879-1966) was the first regional female councillor, and only the second female councillor in the State, when she was elected to Stroud Shire Council in 1951.
Mrs Murray, who served as deputy president between 1951-53, remained a member of Stroud Shire Council until 1956.
Stroud council was the forerunner of Great Lakes Council.
Her portrait hung in the former Great Lakes Council chambers in Breese Parade until MidCoast Council moved to Yalawanyi Ganya in January 2021.
The portrait was recently returned to Mrs Murray's grand-daughter, Robyn Metcalfe, to take it's place in the family's history.
Mrs Murray was born in Queensland and became a teacher after attending Brisbane Technical College.
After a few years teaching her adventurous spirit took her to Western Australia and then by sea to the United Kingdom.
On her return to Australia she ventured to Sydney to take up a role with the NSW Department of Education.
A teaching position then took her to Gloucester, where she met and married Thomas Veitch Murray.
They made their home at Bunyah and raised a family of eight.
An active member of civic life, Mrs Murray was dedicated to the ongoing progress and development of her beloved Bunyah.
From here, moving into local government was a natural step and she served her community for nine years and made a significant contribution.
During this time Mrs Murray became a foundation member of the Local Government Women's Association, initiated the relationship between Stroud Shire Council and Stroud Urban Council in England and became part of local history.
Robyn became aware of the portrait's existence and while attending a recent MidCoast Council Community Conversations event and asked about the possibility of having it returned to the family.
Corporate services director, Steve Embry, said he was happy to assist and the portrait was returned to the family, represented by granddaughter Robyn, who lives in Tuncurry and great grand-daughter Paula McDonald of Taree.
In an interesting connection Paula works as a project administrator for MidCoast Council.
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