G E N E R AT I O N S
Founding family In recent years, Prue Galley has visited BGS while researching her family history. Her family connections with the School stretch back to its founding years and through four generations. This article reveals some of the stories behind these connections, touches on her remarkable career and acknowledges a splendid gift to the BGS Archives. Ms Galley gained international recognition as one of the leading advocates to change the status of the physiotherapy profession. The Australian Physiotherapists Association recounts that she wrote three seminal articles, including ‘Patient referral and the physiotherapist’ (1976), which presented a visionary model to allow physiotherapists to act as primary contact professionals.
Up to that point, the profession was bound by a self-regulated ethical code, meaning physiotherapists could not treat patients unless they were referred by a medical practitioner. Removing this barrier fundamentally changed the recognition and responsibilities of all physiotherapists. Ms Galley’s brother, Robert Galley, arrived at BGS from Eagle Junction Primary School in 1961. His strong academic results in the Senior Public Exam of 1964 allowed him to study medicine at The University of Queensland. Their father, William Robert Galley, arrived at BGS in 1922, having won a state scholarship. He went on to win an extension scholarship and then further study at Gatton. William was a Lieutenant Colonel in the AIF and his name is on the BGS WWII Honour Board. He married Nellie Lawrence Griffith Oxley in 1940. It is through Ms Galley’s mother, Nellie, that the BGS family connection goes deeper. She was the daughter of Edward
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