- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE6431
McKean, Isabella
(1869 – 1939)- Born 18 October, 1869, Grenfell New South Wales Australia
- Died 28 July, 1939, Berowra New South Wales Australia
- Occupation Poultry farmer, War widow
Summary
Isabella McKean was widowed when her husband, Scottish-born David Thornton McKean, was killed in action while serving with the AIF on the Western Front on 14 November 1916. For a few years before World War I, McKean worked as a plasterer with the Department of Home Affairs. In 1913, Isabella moved to Canberra from Weddin, where she had been active in church and social events, to join her husband but had trouble finding accommodation. She was living in Berowra when her husband was killed. In 1919 she married a former AIF solider and partly supported herself keeping poultry.
Read a longer essay on Isabella McKean in the online exhibition War Widows of the ACT: A Forgotten Legacy of World War I.