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Marie Beuzeville Byles A Spirited
Life
Her Stories
Marie Beuzeville Byles (1900–1979) was a woman of energy and vision.
Throughout
her life Marie became known as a committed conservationist, the first
practicing female
solicitor in New South Wales, mountaineer, explorer and avid bushwalker,
feminist,
author and an original member of the Buddhist Society in NSW. Her
property Ahimsa
was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1970.
This exhibition was produced by The National Trust of Australia (NSW) to
tell the
story of Marie’s extraordinary life through the extensive archive of
photographic images
that she bequeathed to the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW and
additional
material from Trust archives
Born in 1900 in Cheshire, to English progressive-minded parents who
valued
individuality along with arduous tramps in the countryside, Marie
developed a
respect for self discipline and the environment. Marie’s mother Ida was
a suffragette,
vegetarian, tee-totaller and artist who encouraged Marie to be
economically independent
and to develop her mind. Her father, Cyril, was an ardent campaigner
against fenced
land in England which prevented public access for recreational walks. He
involved his
children in these protests.
In 1911 the Byles family arrived in Australia where her father took up a
position as
railway signal engineer. They found a block of land situated near bush
land at Beecroft
to build their large house, Chilworth. Two years later, Marie chose to
be educated at
Presbyterian Ladies’ College at Croydon from 1914–1915. As part of the
select senior
girls she was chosen for the newly established Presbyterian Ladies
College at Pymble,
which she attended in 1916, and as a boarder in 1917. She excelled, and
became Prefect
and dux in 1916 and Head Prefect and dux in the following year
Marie was one of the growing number of women to attend the University
of Sydney. In
1921 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and in 1924 a Bachelor of
Laws. She was the
first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in NSW in 1924, and was the
first woman to
establish a legal practice in 1929. Marie operated two successful law
practices — one in
Eastwood and the other in the city — until she retired in 1970. During
this time she
gave young women opportunities to participate in the legal profession.
‘The business in Eastwood built up because she had the reputation of
getting things
done so quickly and that was almost unknown in a legal office, she was
notorious.’
(Employee, Ruth Milton, interview with Gillian Coote 1983)
In 1932 she joined The Women’s Club, which was created in 1901 to
provide a place
where women interested in public, professional, scientific and artistic
work could meet.
Although Marie’s law practice was general in nature, she wrote articles
against
women changing their name on marriage so as to protect their financial
assets, and also
worked to ensure just divorce settlements for female clients
From her family’s holiday retreat on Sunrise Hill at Palm Beach,
Marie would look out
through her telescope across Broken Bay at the imposing coast and
bushland around
Maitland Bay, then known as Boat Harbour, on the Central Coast. With her
girlfriends,
Marie found ways through the bush where they set up camps on the
beautiful shores
of Maitland Bay.
By 1929, there was an increasing focus on organised recreation for the
growing city
and suburban population. Marie joined the two-year-old Sydney
Bushwalkers Club,
which was one of the few walking clubs to admit women.
In 1930 a new name for Boat Harbour was proposed by the Club. Bushwalker
Dorothy Lawry suggested Maitland Bay after the shipwrecked steamer
rusting at the
northern end of the beach. Over the next five years, with the support of
the Federation
of Sydney Bushwalkers Clubs, Marie successfully campaigned in the press
for the area to
be placed under public ownership. The creation of Bouddi Natural Park in
1935 was a
landmark achievement for early conservationists
In 1927 Marie had saved enough money from working as a law clerk to
take off
on a Norwegian cargo boat to begin her journey around the world. This
included
climbing mountains in Britain, Norway and Canada. From this journey she
authored
her popular book, ‘By Cargo Boat and Mountain’, in 1931.
Later, Marie led expeditions to Mt Cook in New Zealand in 1935 and to
the
20,000-ft peak, Mt Sansato, in Western China near the Tibetan border, in
1938. At
times her party in China traveled with 15 mules, porters, an
interpreter, cook, two
servants, three riding ponies and occasionally military escorts to
protect them from
bandits. Due to the poor weather, the expedition failed to reach the
summit and
Marie was bitterly disappointed
During her travels through Burma, China and Vietnam in 1938, Marie
often chose to
stay in temples instead of simple inns, and traveled through remote
villages. These
experiences brought her into direct contact with non-European cultures
and religions.
On her return, Marie renewed her interest in the teachings of Gandhi,
and began
exploring Buddhism. No longer able to walk far or to climb her beloved
mountains due
to a collapsed foot arch, she became more interested in spirituality and
meditation as a
way of dealing with her pain.
During the 1940s Marie also became interested in Quakerism — and was
friends
with local Quakers who lived nearby and who had meetings at her house.
Unfortunately, she was refused membership due to her ongoing interest in
Buddhism.
Over the following years she made spiritual journeys through India and
Asia. She spent
a year in India, including the Himalayas, and made three trips to Burma
and two trips to
Japan. From these experiences she completed four books on Buddhism and
was
significant in introducing and promoting Buddhism in NSW.
By 1938 Marie left her family home Chilworth at Beecroft and built her
own house on
Crown Land in nearby Cheltenham.
The large verandah is primarily where Marie slept and lived in
preference to the
interior rooms. The four room pre-fabricated fibro and sandstone home
was called
Ahimsa after the term used by Ghandi meaning harmlessness.
In addition to the house, Marie wanted to have a place on her land for
groups to meet
for discussions and meditation. By 1949, the Hut of Happy Omen, which
was designed
as an open sleepout with bunks and a large sandstone stone fireplace,
was complete.
In 1970 Marie bequeathed her property to The National Trust of Australia
(NSW),
which she had helped in 1946 when she was the consulting solicitor who
drafted the
organisation’s Constitution.
Her decision to give her home to The National Trust was based on her
faith in the
Trust to help preserve the native bushland around her home and to help
protect the
surrounding reserves. Marie died at Ahimsa in 1979. Today, the Trust
honours her
wishes by providing a sympathetic tenant to care for Ahimsa, and also
leaving the Hut
of Happy Omen and grounds open to visitors |
