World History Month 2023...Post 23....Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie) (1909-1978 ).

Woman's History Month...2023. Post 23...Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie) (1909-1978).

This month is Women's History Month. I have decided to repost the stories of many of the wonderful women from Subiaco I have come across.

Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie) (1909-1978 ) 'Auntie Nell' (Daily News) Newspaper.

Throughout the early part of the 20 th Century 'Our Children's Pages' in the local Perth newspaper 'The Daily News' were run by 'Auntie Nell' and 'Uncle Tom'. They encouraged their young readers to engage with the newspaper through writing letters on all kinds to subjects and share their experiences in their daily lives. Some were rewarded prizes and published on a weekly basis. They also encouraged children to engage in community and charity work they were involved in. Children applied to be known as their nieces and nephews. There were various 'Auntie Nells' and 'Uncle Toms' over the years.

One person who took on the role was Boronia Lucy Giles who for a time went to school at Subiaco Primary where she won a scholarship to Perth Modern School in 1922 and then went into journalism.

She was known for working as a journalist and print journalist. She used a number of alternative names including 'Auntie Nell', 'Mary Fever', 'Peg Peggoty' and Sanderson, Boronia Lucy (The Australian Women's Register).

Boronia Lucy Giles was born in the Western Australian town of Collie on 25 August 1909 to Arthur Sanderson an engine driver from England, and her Australian Queensland born mother, Jessie Mary née Cosham. She married Robert Giles in 1932 and together they had five children (Ryan, Jan 1996, Australian Dictionary of Biography). She died on 2 May 1978.

"...Bonnie was educated at various primary schools. From Subiaco State she won a scholarship in 1922 to Perth Modern School where she spent four and a half years..." (Ryan, J. 1996, Australian Dictionary of Biography).

"....Bonnie Giles studied journalism in Western Australia in the 1920's but struggled to balance study, work and family and failed to complete her diploma. This did not, however, stop her from establishing an enduring career. She wrote under a variety of pseudonyms for the Perth Daily News newspaper...." (The Australian Women's Register).

"...Under the pseudonyms of 'Peg Peggotty' and 'Auntie Nell' she showed her flair for creative writing in the children's section of the Daily News and used her own drawings to complement her poems and short stories...

...Working tirelessly for for disadvantaged people, Giles used her public standing and her articles to foster charitable causes. She sought a home for a blind, slow learning Aboriginal boy from the country who had to be taken to the School of the Blind; she appealed for layette for poor and unmarried mothers; and she requested radios for old aged pensioners. Administrative opportunities helped her to achieve her philanthropic goals. In March 1959 she was appointed to the State's Health Education Council. For 10 years she edited Our Children, the magazine of the Slow Learning Children's Group. The minister of education made her a member of the Investigating Committee on Left-School Youth, a committee formed to consider the problems and further education of young people. She also addressed women's groups on a number of topics..." (Ryan, J. 1996, Australian Dictionary of Biography).

References

Ryan, J. 1996, Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie) (1908 - 1978) Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University

The Australian Women's Register Giles, Boronia Lucy (Bonnie) 1909 a 1978)