Gladys Dorothy O'Shane

O'Shane attended primary school and later worked as a domestic servant at Mossman Hospital laundry, and lived with her family at Yarrabah Mission, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.^[1][2][3][7] O'Shane married Patrick James O’Shane, a 27-year-old militant trade unionist, wharf labourer, and cane cutter on 26 October 1940 at the Assembly of God Tabernacle, Cairns, and moved to Mossman.^[1][2]

O'Shane had two daughters and three sons. Her eldest daughter Pat O'Shane was the first Aboriginal Magistrate in New South Wales, and Chancellor of the University of New England.^{[1][2][3][4][7][8]} Terry, Margaret, Daniel, and Timothy, the children of O'Shane, also contributed to Aboriginal Communities.^[3][7]

O'Shane was the inaugural president of the Cairns Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Advancement League (CATSIAL) and addressed the strike meetings of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia as a member of its Women Auxiliary wing.^[1][2][3][7]

In 1959, O'Shane and her eldest daughter, Pat, became members of the Communist Party of Australia.^[1][2][3][7] In 1964, O'Shane was an elected committee member of the North Queensland Committee of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA).^[3][7] O'Shane was noted as a "leader in Aboriginal advancement" at the 1966 Annual conference of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.^[1][2][7]

O'Shane suffered from renal disease, and died of cardiac arrest on 29 December 1965 at Base Hospital, Cairns. She was buried in Martyn Street Cemetery.^[1][2][3][6]