Four Peas in a Pod

Smart, spirited, and sporty, the first Walsh sisters attended Wenona more than 100 years ago and their legacy endures, with a great-granddaughter now enrolled at the School.

The Wenona archives paint a rich picture of the four Walsh sisters Lorna (1927), Marie (1929), Sheila (1931) and Barbara (1936). Strong in talent and personality, The Wenonian: 1929-1937, describes them as ‘four peas in a pod’ (a moniker coined by then-Principal Miss Edith Ralston), and their exploits feature in a range of letters, reports, and publications.

Lorna and Marie were enrolled at Wenona back in 1919, when the School was housed in the modest environs of St Thomas’ Church Hall. Described as very competitive, all four sisters excelled at sport and academics.

Lorna was best known for captaining the A Tennis Team in 1926 and winning the Sports Cup the same year.

Marie was Sports Captain and received several academic awards including the Physical Culture Prize and the Missionary Society Prize.

Sheila was not only represented Wenona at the Tildesley Shield TennisTournament, but had a poem published in the School magazine, achieved 100% in her Latin exam, and had fun winning the egg and spoon race in 1925.

Barbara was perhaps the most spirited of all, participating in the Tildesley Shield, the All-Schools Swimming

Carnival, and in 1934, winning the Junior Challand Cup. She is particularly remembered for convincing her teachers that her middle names were Una Matilda, making her initials BUM!

The Walsh sisters made lifelong friends at Wenona. According to their descendants, each looked back on their School days with great fondness and expressed love for their Principal Miss Ralston.

More than a century after Lorna commenced at Wenona, her great-granddaughter, Hannah Bayliss, is just finishing Year 7. Four of Barbara’s great-grandchildren are also hoping to attend the School in the coming years … continuing the