A Woman's Investment: Tribute: how your blog post can raise $1000 for people living in poverty

This Incentive House story in many ways typifies the spirit of "LingaLonga : Stories of Women & Thirroul" - the organisers are encouraging bloggers to submit stories to fundraise for people living in poverty - so I submitted Sally Bowen's inspirational story.

from "A Woman's Investment: Tribute: how your blog post can raise $1000 for people living in poverty: "Tribute: how your blog post can raise $1000 for people living in poverty

I have some great news to share with you! Over the next week Melbourne based business Incentive House will be contributing up to $1000 towards an Opportunity International microfinance fundraiser by donating $100 for every blog post you write for a special project."

Alderman Rube Hargrave - Ward 1, Wollongong City Council

I'd always felt a connectedness to Ald Rube Hargrave, the first woman to serve as an alderman on Wollongong Council, 50 years ago in 1959, a century after local government had come to the Wollongong area. The council had been formed from an amalgamation of 4 smaller councils in 1947. It was 12 years before Rube broke the barriers as the first woman alderman, before going on to also become the first woman Deputy Lord Mayor. Rube also ran for the NSW State Parliament in 1965 & 1968. However the residents of the northern suburbs of Wollongong were not ready for a non ALP State Representative.

Local northern suburbs journalist & historian, Mick Roberts, quotes her maiden speech to the council “I come here humbly, as a representative of many women’s organisations. I would like to extend the warm hand of fellowship to my fellow aldermen. I will at all times be accessible, and I will try to be wholly impartial. I feel proud because I represent so many fine women, and I will not let them down.”

We had both lived in Thirroul, represented the northern suburbs (Ward 1) on Wollongong City Council, as well as serving on the Illawarra County Council & Illawarra Electricity Boards respectively. It is very humbling to represent such a very special & fragile area, bounded by the Royal National Park to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the east and the magnificent Illawarra Escarpment in the west. Rube had served from 1959-1971, and I from 1991-2004.

At the Bulli Lookout Kiosk, (now The Cliffhanger), during my high school & university years, I'd also worked for Rube's nephew, Peter Chamberlain (& also a childhood neighbour of my mother - Joan Adams(Callcott) & of NSW Speaker - The Hon. Laurie Kelly). Having no children of their own, Rube and Uncle Jack Hargrave were understandably close to Peter and his brother Teddy. So at Bulli Lookout Kiosk there were often stories of Aunty Rube. Inevitably there was gently exposure to the realm of local politics; especially as Pat Williams and Iris Wheeler, daughters of former Mayor Albert Squires, also worked there.

At high school it was Ald Rube who inducted us as prefects at Bulli High School, where I'd also been in the same class as Sandra, her great niece. Sandra's brother John, like myself, worked in the technology field in BHP Steel. Their sister Kerrie Ahlburg has been my daughter's (Katrina Christian) Girl Guide Leader ... and so on. And during my 12 years as a Wollongong City Councillor, Rube's nephew, Peter Chamberlain, regularly dropped little notes on all the things he saw needed doing.

At Rube Hargrave's funeral in 1996, Peter's son, John Chamberlain, spoke very movingly of her long and rich life. So in 1997, when the then Wollongong City Councillors were asked to speak on themes to honour 50 years of the City of Wollongong, I chose to speak on Ald Rube Hargrave. Her nephew, Peter Chamberlain, and his wife, Bron, generously shared their memories of their Aunty Rube with me ... showing many treasured items from her public life.

Speech by Cr Kerrie Christian at the 50th anniversary meeting of the formation of Wollongong Council - September 18 1997.
"Thank you Lord Mayor

Tonight I feel privileged to speak of a former deputy lord mayor of Wollongong, indeed the first woman deputy lord mayor of Wollongong, Rube Hargrave, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Cr Franks I understand will speak more broadly on the role of women in local government and as the longest serving woman in local government in Wollongong's history that is truly her honour to do so - but tonight I would like to say a few brief words about one, Rube Hargrave. Sadly she is unable to be with us tonight, having passed away at the grand age of 97 late last year. But those of us who attended her funeral last year will remember it as a very moving ceremony - a celebration of a very full and rich life.

So tonight I think that it is important that along with looking to the future that we acknowledge this watershed, that with the support of the Women's Local government Promotion Committee Rube Hargrave became the first woman to be elected to Wollongong Council as an alderman back in 1959 - after nearly a century of local government in our city area.

Naturally there were other firsts for Rube hargrave - in 1970 she was elected as not only Wollongong's but also nsw's first woman deputy lord mayor. She also Served on the Illawarra County Council from 1968 from 1971 - the first woman from Wollongong Council to do so - an interesting feat in itself. It should also be mentioned that she was made a life member of the Local Government Women's Association. She was considered to be a truly remarkable woman - but then what would you expect from the person who was also claimed to be Australia's first woman driving instructor. She quite clearly deserved the Order of Australia that was ultimately presented to her by Governor Sinclair.

Wollongong, in 1959 when Rube Hargrave was first elected to Wollongong Council - nearly 40 years ago was indeed a different place. But I think that it was noteworthy that she had chosen to enter politics because she wished "to break down prejudice against women in the city, to prove women have brains equal to men and to prove that their advice, ideas and counsel in government can be valuable".
She certainly must have demonstrated that and quickly cleared the way for others - because she was joined by two others - that is Alderman Ryan and Alderman Kelly in 1962. However, sadly there was a drought of women on council over 12 years from 1971 until 1983 before we saw Councillor Franks along with Norma Wilson elected to council.

On a personal note I guess that I must have experienced some sort of latent or vicarious inspiration as I worked as a teenager for Rube's nephew in the late 1960's and early 1970's at the Bulli Lookout kiosk and as I listened to the talk of Aunty Rube's doings at council - a highlight I remember at the time being her election as Deputy Lord mayor and her involvement in the visit of Princess Ann to our city.

It is also not surprising that given her involvement in running the Sublime Point kiosk and Clifton's Imperial Hotel and her husband Jack's employment in the steel industry that Rube Hargrave would have had an appreciation of key industries in our region.

I also noted with interest when I attended Rube Hargrave's funeral late last year that two of her principle concerns had included the installation of pram ramps in the city and also the construction of a footpath along the cliffs in the northern suburbs from Clifton to Scarborough - an issue with which Councillor Martin will no doubt empathise. Quite clearly some issues still remain as important basic responsibilities so far as the community is concerned. Even as we near the end of the 90's with all sorts of reform and buzz words in local government, we are still reminded of these fundamental needs of all our citizens.

But along with running the city and entertaining royalty she still found time to do the exquisite cutwork embroidery and to make knitted dolls to be sold on various stalls for charities such as Red Cross and Crippled Children. She was also a founding member not to mention president of the Northern Suburbs Meals on Wheels. In fact she retained her involvement with groups such as the Guides at Woonona even into her 90's. And a number of Community organisations were very grateful when they found that she had remembered them in her will.

Obviously there are a range of interesting memories of Rube Hargrave - including some told by our general manager but I will say no more on that - I also understand that she may have also upset at least one other elected rep in the region - but to me that would seem to indicate that she was doing her job and making her presence felt as a strong woman who was working for the betterment of our city. I do think that it was notable that Rube continued to retain an interest in wollongong's local government affairs - offering quite strong opinions even up until as late as 1995.

Now Rube Hargrave also had the reputation amongst her family and friends of being an excellent cook and so I think of the story of her memorable reply when she was told that a woman's place was in the kitchen, not representing the people of Wollongong - she replied that she was just as happy in the kitchen as on the council. A true woman of the 20th century.

Perhaps it was to be expected last year when her nephew John Chamberlain spoke so movingly in delivering the eulogy saying that Rube Hargrave had believed that she had been elected to represent every man, woman and child, no matter what race or religion. I think that in this Rube Hargrave has left us a legacy for the next 50 years , not only for women councillors, but for all councillors, a legacy that seems to sit very well with the charter which earlier this year that we as a city invited leaders from across our community to sign - the charter proudly proclaiming that Wollongong is a city of access and opportunity for all."

When first elected in 1991, I had written to Rube saying how honoured I felt to be following in her footsteps. In reply, Rube wrote a typically very practical letter of advice on being a female alderman. So especially evocative for me, are the photos of Rube in Thirroul taken over a period of 60 years ... A young woman, Rube in a 1930's photo, (taken near my current home), in what is now Hamilton St Thirroul. Her home at the bottom of Bulli Pass, (near my previous home), since resumed in the 1950's by the Department of Main Roads. At the opening of the first Thirroul Library in 1960 (wonderful to have that little library building in Thirroul in the 1960's), and a frail Rube receiving an OAM in 1993.

Mick Roberts has also written of her involvement as a past patron of "Thirroul Red Cross, Bulli Kennel Club (more), Poultry Club, Coledale Surf Club (Woman’s Aux), CWA, Wollongong Civilian Widows, Fraternity Bowling Club, Crippled Children‘s Society, Bulli Agriculture Society, Bulli High School and the Woonona Girl Guides. She was a life member of the Local Government Women’s Association, foundation Soroptimist Club president, was an active member of the Professional and Business Woman’s Association, the Crippled Children Society, Sub normal Children’s Society and Chesalon Home for the Aged. "

A life truly well lived.

Phyllis Mary Nicol - Physicist from Thirroul

It all started with Phyllis Mary Nicol. I was intrigued, who was this former Thirroul girl who had made it into, not only a BrightSparcs entry, but also the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition. I wanted to know more about this amazing woman, & to redress that virtually nobody knew of her, in her birthplace, Thirroul.

Researching on some council related issues, Phyllis Mary Nicol surfaced in one of my Google searches. Joe Davis, who knows most stories of Thirroul had heard only a little of her. Robyn Hutton, Bulli resident & Science Teacher at St Mary's Star of the Sea College, had encountered her in the Physics Labs & at Women's College during undergraduate days at Sydney University.

For a long time I had been presumptuous enough to believe that I was the first girl in Thirroul to carve out a university graduate career in the non traditional fields of science, engineering, technology or medicine. I was wrong - Phyl Nicol, University Lecturer in Physics, had graduated over 50 years earlier in 1925. She was the second woman to have graduated in Physics from Sydney University, before being awarded an MSc in 1926!

The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition entry reads as follows.

"NICOL, PHYLLIS MARY (1903-1964), lecturer and demonstrator in physics, was born on 2 March 1903 at Thirroul, New South Wales, eldest daughter of native-born parents Walter George Phillip Nicol, teamster, and his wife Florence, née Reeves. Educated at North Sydney Girls' High School, Phyllis won a bursary in 1921 to the University of Sydney (B.Sc., 1925; M.Sc., 1926).

She shared the Deas Thomson scholarship (1924) and graduated (1925) with first-class honours in physics and in mathematics from a department somewhat unwelcoming to women students. Awarded an 1851 Exhibition science research scholarship, she wrote her thesis on the optical properties of selenium and published her findings in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales; she was to join the society in 1935.

In March 1927 Miss Nicol resigned her scholarship. She worked for the rest of her life in the department of physics. A full-time demonstrator (1927-33), reduced to part-time (1933-46), she became a part-time lecturer in 1946 (following the retirement of Professor Oscar Vonwiller) and a full-time lecturer in 1948 but with 'temporary' status. She had written with her colleague Edgar Booth, 'Physics' (1931, 16th edition 1962), a standard text for high-school students and undergraduates (KC note - now a collectible).


Nicol unsuccessfully applied in 1952 for the position of senior lecturer. Her status and that of other 'temporary' members of the department was reviewed by a senate committee in July 1953. Although she was damned with faint praise by Harry Messel, the dynamic new professor of physics, who considered that she 'coached' rather than lectured, but was worthy of consideration because she 'had been here for many years', the committee recommended that she be offered a permanent appointment. After almost thirty years of teaching, her reward was the position of 'tutor demonstrator with the status of lecturer'.

Her devotion to the department was equalled only by her attachment to Women's College, where she had lived from 1921 as student, tutor in physics and mathematics, and sub-principal (1933-54). Hindered by a lack of opportunity for overseas research, by limitations within the physics department and by her reluctance to take any public role of leadership, she remained as a subordinate within her department and college, voicing no grudge or criticism of others. The stereotype of the scholarly spinster, untidy, careless of dress and seemingly always running late, 'Phylly Nic' spoke on the benefits of eight hours sleep a night and exhorted her female students to dress in their best for examinations as a means of boosting confidence.

Nicol resigned as sub-principal in 1954 to live with her unmarried sister at Lane Cove. She underwent a mastectomy in 1953 and later suffered severe illness, but continued to work, resigning from the physics department 'due to ill health' only four days before she died of cancer on 13 June 1964 at her home; she was cremated with Anglican rites. Students were her vocation. Her genius was that, through her teaching, the most unpromising candidates could pass physics I, the first hurdle for many university courses. Her legacy was to help others on the path to opportunities she never enjoyed."

Phyl Nicol played a role model to her student, Joan Freeman, although the advice was blunt - “It’s difficult enough for a man to get a job as a physicist…but for a woman the possibilities are very limited indeed” - Joan became one of Australia's first female nuclear physicists at the CSIRO & then at Cambridge University in the 1940's, before later going onto Harwell - British Atomic Energy Research Establishment; also the first woman to be awarded the Rutherford Medal, and only the second Australian.

Another student inspired by Phyl Nicol, whilst at Women's College, Sydney University was to become Her Excellency Prof Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW - "She considers her years at the Women's College were greatly enriching, intellectually, spiritually and socially. This was due to the outstanding influence of the Principal, Miss H.E. Archdale, the Vice-Principal and physicist, Phyllis Nicol "

Select Bibliography on Phyllis Mary Nicol
D. Branagan and G. Holland (eds), Ever Reaping Something New (Syd, 1985); R. Annable (ed), Biographical Register, The Women's College within the University of Sydney, vol 1, 1892-1939 (Syd, 1995); W. V. Hole, 'Phyllis Mary Nicol, MSc (1903-64)', University of Sydney, Record, 2, 1989, p 2; P. M. Nicol staff file (University of Sydney Archives); University of Sydney Senate minutes, 6 July 1953 (University of Sydney Archives); University of Sydney and Women's College Archives. More on the resources
Author: Rosemary Annable
Print Publication Details: Rosemary Annable, 'Nicol, Phyllis Mary (1903 - 1964)', Australian Dictionary Biography,of Volume 15, Melbourne University Press, 2000, p. 478. "

Stories from Thirroul

A friend, Joe Davis, once commented to me, that lots of interesting people have lived in Thirroul. DH Lawrence stayed here, Gary Shead painted here, as did Brett Whitely who also died here. Mostly it has been males that have received recognition.

But Thirroul has influenced, & been influenced by, many interesting women - some I've known, some I've read about, or listened to the stories told by my mother. As a child I had been fascinated by these stories, however all too often we are too busy to collect these stories.

By chance I had come across Phyllis Mary Nicol's story when searching on the Internet during my years as a Local Government Councillor. It seemed that there might be many such stories - so the time finally came to start to collect and share. As is the nature of a village like Thirroul, there are many family interconnections in the list.

Thirroul's women have had diverse backgrounds, as they juggle many responsibilities and so to give them only a single tag is too constraining. The list will grow, and the spaces fill, with the stories I'd like to collect and share ....

Arts

• Grace Cossington Smith
• Judy Bourke
• Juanita Bailey
• Margaret Coen
• Joanne Handley

Business & Professional

• Sue Chapman - public and private sector executive
• Anita Comelli - business woman & swimming instructor
• Judy Stubbs - consultant social planner
• Maureen Dignam - business woman
• Margaret Bowen - CEO Illawarra Disability Trust

Community Activists

• Delwyn Jones - community activist & scientist
• Shirley Nixon - community activist
• Cate Wilson - community activist, artist & teacher
• Ann Ellicott - community activist - Thirroul Village Committee
• Bonny Martin - community activist - NIRAG
• Anna Whelan - community activist & consultant social planner
• Edie Swift - community activist & oral historian

Community Leaders

• Lyn Jones - Thirroul Village Committee
• Lenore Gray - Thirroul Village Committee
• Irene Redfern - Thirroul Senior Citizens Centre
• Joan Callcott (Adams) - various community groups
• Marjory Tolner (Joy) - various community groups
• Marj Hargraves - Thirroul Neighbourhood Centre
• Dot Sefton - local history
• Wendy Joliffe - librarian

Educators

• Pat Bowyer & Wendy Bowyer (Akhurst) - primary teachers
• Betty Gibson, Pearl Lewis & Mildred Gibson - primary teachers & secondary teacher
• Chris Campbell - lecturer - Notre Dame Uni Sydney

The Factory

• Women from Hardies - from northern suburbs tales by Mick Roberts

Good Food & Wine

• Gaye Kirkman
• Lisa Ackerman & Suzette DeVille - The Flying Duck Cafe
• Betty - MARS

Legal

• Peta Glynn - Lawyer

Nearly Forgotten

• Beatrice Southwell and Lucy Callcott
• Mary Ann Hicks nee McKenzie

Performers

• Margaret Fagan - musician
• Chloe Roweth - musician
• Amanda Baker - musician
• Ruth - Thirroul Music & Drama Academy
• Margaret Wolfe - Eisteddford administrator

Politics

• Mary Reuben Hargrave - 1st Woman Alderman & Deputy Lord Mayor - Wollongong City Council, publican
• Helen Gray (Kuiper) - Councillor - Wollondilly Council
• Kerrie Adams (Christian) - Councillor - Wollongong City Council, technology manager & TJSC mum
• Alice Cartan - Councillor & Deputy Lord Mayor - Wollongong City Council- Wollongong & TJSC mum
• Karla Sperling - Greens Party stalwart 
• Betty Woodward - wife & minder of Ald Fred Woodward
• Sally Bowen - union offical, political & community activist
• Carol Medcalf - unions, political & community activist, local government executive
• Di Dixon - union official & TJSC mum

Science & Technology

• Mary Phyllis Nicol - physicist
• Florence Violet McKenzie - electrical engineer
• Karen Fraser - ohs manager
• Joanne Glynn - environmental scientist

Sports

• Kerryn McCann - athlete
• Taurie & Kari Kristiansen - Surf School

The Shops

• Nelly Parson - Dressmaker
• Mrs Frost - wool shop
• Mrs Martin - draper

They Came & Stayed

• Mrs Vasakos
• Mrs Crittle
• Evie Joubert

Writers

• Baroness Frieda Von Richtoffen (Frieda Lawrence )
• Susan McCreery
• Jody Duffy
• Christine Ambler (Sutton)
• Jacqueline Coyle-Taylor
• Mary Ijall
• Inga Lazarotto
• Amanda Kunkler

Youth Activities

• Wendy Momsen - Girl Guides & TJSC mum
• Rosemary Kettley - Girl Guides
• Ann Ellacott - Girl Guides & doctor
• Liz Elliott - Girl Guides & IT manager
• Girl Guides - international ambassadors
• Sue Plumb - Scouts
• Danielle  - junior soccer official - TJSC