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| An obituary published by the Women's College at the University of Sydney outlines her chequered academic career.((see also Women's College, Calendar, 1910 p.20 and 1919, p.?.)) She was the 41st student to enter the Women's College in 1899 while she studied for an Arts degree. She left after a year with second class honours in French. She returned to the University in 1903 to study medicine; it was a time when higher education was still controversial for women, and medicine particularly so. Medicine had a high failure rate and Mabel left, having only completed the third year of the course, in early 1907. She returned in 1911 in an attempt to finish, but left after a term. It is not known what she did then, though she was probably the 'Miss Murray-Prior' who unsuccessfully applied for the position of Superintendent at the Sydney Medical Mission in December 1911. She was not appointed because she was not medically qualified.((Sydney Medical Mission, minutes, 18 December 1911, Dixson Library (SLNSW), MS218.))\\ | An obituary published by the Women's College at the University of Sydney outlines her chequered academic career.((see also Women's College, Calendar, 1910 p.20 and 1919, p.?.)) She was the 41st student to enter the Women's College in 1899 while she studied for an Arts degree. She left after a year with second class honours in French. She returned to the University in 1903 to study medicine; it was a time when higher education was still controversial for women, and medicine particularly so. Medicine had a high failure rate and Mabel left, having only completed the third year of the course, in early 1907. She returned in 1911 in an attempt to finish, but left after a term. It is not known what she did then, though she was probably the 'Miss Murray-Prior' who unsuccessfully applied for the position of Superintendent at the Sydney Medical Mission in December 1911. She was not appointed because she was not medically qualified.((Sydney Medical Mission, minutes, 18 December 1911, Dixson Library (SLNSW), MS218.))\\ |
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| When World War I began in July 1914, Mabel was in Hong Kong. It is possible that she was on her way back from Europe to home, as a letter from Rosa Praed to Nora M-P in January 1914 states that Mabel was returning to Australia with Mary Bundock (Thomas de M. M-P's second wife).((Praed papers cited in Julie Marcus, //First In Their Field//, Melbourne University Press, 1993.)) If so, war prompted her to return as she qualified in England in 1915 as a V.A.D. ([[wiki>Voluntary_Aid_Detachment]]) - as did her cousins Ruth M-P and probably Dorothy M-P. In December 1914, Ruth wrote that Mabel was accompanying her sister Florette to Europe: most likely when Florette was trying to see her husband Sydney Herring who was on active duty.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26)) Mabel subsequently worked as a VAD in an unnamed English hospital. Dublin University was one of the few universities that admitted women, and she went there to complete her medical degree. After qualifying as a doctor, she was a medical resident for 6 months at the Royal Herbert Military Hospital in Woolwich, London then moved to Edinburgh Hospital, Scotland where she worked until mid-1919. In 1917, she was awarded a Doctor of Medicine at University of Edinburgh.((//Magazine of the Women's College//, 1917, p.20; University of Sydney, //Beyond 1914 - Book of Remembrance//, includes details of Mabel's war record completed by her sister Florette Herring. See [[http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3705/mabel-murray-prior#]])) \\ | In January 1914 Rosa Praed wrote how she was pleased Mabel had had 'an extremely good time ... [and] some English hunting' and was about to leave for home with Mary Bundock, Thomas de M. M-P's second wife.((Rosa Praed to Ethel Butler, 1 January 1914, in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 4, item 355.)) Mabel took her time returning as, when World War I began in July 1914, she was in Hong Kong. She then returned to England and qualified in 1915 as a V.A.D. ([[wiki>Voluntary_Aid_Detachment]]) - as did her cousins Ruth M-P and probably Dorothy M-P. In December 1914, Ruth wrote that Mabel was accompanying her sister Florette to Europe: most likely when Florette was trying to see her husband Sydney Herring who was on active duty.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26)) Mabel subsequently worked as a VAD in an unnamed English hospital. Dublin University was one of the few universities that admitted women, and she went there to complete her medical degree. After qualifying as a doctor, she was a medical resident for 6 months at the Royal Herbert Military Hospital in Woolwich, London then moved to Edinburgh Hospital, Scotland where she worked until mid-1919. In 1917, she was awarded a Doctor of Medicine at University of Edinburgh.((//Magazine of the Women's College//, 1917, p.20; University of Sydney, //Beyond 1914 - Book of Remembrance//, includes details of Mabel's war record completed by her sister Florette Herring. See [[http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3705/mabel-murray-prior#]])) \\ |
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| There is a letter dated 19 January 1915(( or check if 1914?)) from Ruth M-P to Rosa, saying that Mabel was engaged: if so, it was unofficial as another family member thought she was 'only fooling', and had booked to go to Japan, 'sans the man'.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26)) Her family viewed Mabel as eccentric: her aunt Rosa Praed, for example, wrote to Ruth M-P after Mabel qualified as a physician: 'I suppose from Mabel's point of view it is a good thing, but I can't help feeling sorry for her patients. No doubt, however, the soldiers will adore her and she may put her best self into their ills.'((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2. Also anecdotes by E.S. & B.I. M-P, pers.comm; Praed papers, Box 10, QJO.)) Others were more forthright. Max Barton wrote to his mother in 1916 referring to Doris Kennedy, an Irish cousin: 'I did hear that Doris’s housekeeper expressed the opinion that Mabel M.P. was mad.'(([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/page/8/|Max letter to his mother, 16 April 1916]])) Nevertheless, the extended family remained close and when Mabel wrote to Nora M-P, her father's step-mother, it was to 'My dear Grandmother Nora'.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2.)) Another sign of the closeness between the step-relatives is that, after her death, C.B. Darvall, one of Nora's relatives, acted on behalf of Mabel's two executors (her elder siblings Thomas and Florette).((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.93.)) \\ | There is a letter dated 19 January 1915(( or check if 1914?)) from Ruth M-P to Rosa, saying that Mabel was engaged: if so, it was unofficial as another family member thought she was 'only fooling', and had booked to go to Japan, 'sans the man'.((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 4, folder 26)) Her family viewed Mabel as eccentric: her aunt Rosa Praed, for example, wrote to Ruth M-P after Mabel qualified as a physician: 'I suppose from Mabel's point of view it is a good thing, but I can't help feeling sorry for her patients. No doubt, however, the soldiers will adore her and she may put her best self into their ills.'((M-P family papers, NLA MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2. Also anecdotes by E.S. & B.I. M-P, pers.comm; Praed papers, Box 10, QJO.)) Others were more forthright. Max Barton wrote to his mother in 1916 referring to Doris Kennedy, an Irish cousin: 'I did hear that Doris’s housekeeper expressed the opinion that Mabel M.P. was mad.'(([[https://maxandtonybartonww1lettershome.wordpress.com/page/8/|Max letter to his mother, 16 April 1916]])) Nevertheless, the extended family remained close and when Mabel wrote to Nora M-P, her father's stepmother, it was to 'My dear Grandmother Nora'.((M-P papers, NLA, MS 7801, Box 1, folder 2.)) Another sign of the closeness between the step-relatives is that, after her death, C.B. Darvall, one of Nora's relatives, acted on behalf of Mabel's two executors (her elder siblings Thomas and Florette).((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.93.)) \\ |
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| In 1928, Mabel was living in two caravans in Middlesex, with her address 'Nomad's Camp, Splash Road, Shepperton'. The Staines District Council took her to court claiming she did not have a proper facilities for water or the disposal of waste. She told the court she lived in one caravan with the other used as kennels, and that she did have adequate arrangements: charges were dismissed.((The Daily Mail, 23 October 1828, p.9)) Mabel's step-cousin Dorothy (Dorothea M-P) wrote that Mabel visited Australia around 1921 for a visit: 'After that she travelled for some years before settling down to country life in England and in Ireland. She was a keen sportswoman and took great pleasure in hunting and in breeding dogs. In 1931 she was taking a course in gynaecology in Dublin. We saw her in Ireland before we left for Australia. She was then in poor health after a bad fall. Subsequently pneumonia set in and although news was cabled that she was recovering, there was a sudden relapse. She died in hospital. She was a brave, vivacious and warm-hearted woman, and we have found very many friends who mourn her passing.'((//Magazine of the Women's College//,1932, p.6.)) The //Daily Telegraph//, when reporting her death, described her as 'a lady of brilliant intellect and vivid personality and had a good [medical] practice and a large circle of friends'.((//Daily Telegraph//, 21 January 1932, p.15)) Mabel's support for the British Empire is evident by her 1924 Certificate of Fellowship of the [[wp>British_Empire_Exhibition|British Empire Exhibition]].((Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//, Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, p.50.)) | In 1928, Mabel was living in two caravans in Middlesex, with her address 'Nomad's Camp, Splash Road, Shepperton'. The Staines District Council took her to court claiming she did not have a proper facilities for water or the disposal of waste. She told the court she lived in one caravan with the other used as kennels, and that she did have adequate arrangements: charges were dismissed.((The Daily Mail, 23 October 1828, p.9)) Mabel's step-cousin Dorothy (Dorothea M-P) wrote that Mabel visited Australia around 1921 for a visit: 'After that she travelled for some years before settling down to country life in England and in Ireland. She was a keen sportswoman and took great pleasure in hunting and in breeding dogs. In 1931 she was taking a course in gynaecology in Dublin. We saw her in Ireland before we left for Australia. She was then in poor health after a bad fall. Subsequently pneumonia set in and although news was cabled that she was recovering, there was a sudden relapse. She died in hospital. She was a brave, vivacious and warm-hearted woman, and we have found very many friends who mourn her passing.'((//Magazine of the Women's College//,1932, p.6.)) The //Daily Telegraph//, when reporting her death, described her as 'a lady of brilliant intellect and vivid personality and had a good [medical] practice and a large circle of friends'.((//Daily Telegraph//, 21 January 1932, p.15)) Mabel's support for the British Empire is evident by her 1924 Certificate of Fellowship of the [[wp>British_Empire_Exhibition|British Empire Exhibition]].((Certificate in Rosa Caroline Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, OM64-01, Box 10, item 1928.))Bernard Burke, //A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry//, Melbourne: E.A. Petherick, 1891-95, p.50.)) |
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| 3. **Thomas Bertram** M-P, (4 February 1883 - 25 August 1946). {{:t_b_m-p_query.jpeg?250|}} Thomas B. M-P taken by professional photographer in Brisbane.((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P))\\ | 3. **Thomas Bertram** M-P, (4 February 1883 - 25 August 1946). {{:t_b_m-p_query.jpeg?250|}} Thomas B. M-P taken by professional photographer in Brisbane.((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P))\\ |
| This photo is of Ethel is as a bride.((Provenance: Jill Fleming. For an account of the wedding, see //The Beaudesert Times//, 13 August 1909, p. 9)) {{:ethel_bride.jpg?200|}}\\ | This photo is of Ethel is as a bride.((Provenance: Jill Fleming. For an account of the wedding, see //The Beaudesert Times//, 13 August 1909, p. 9)) {{:ethel_bride.jpg?200|}}\\ |
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| Ethel and Roy had five children. Ethel wrote 3 letters in 1933 about her family history. These are in the Fryer Library, University of Queensland. If anyone is in Brisbane and could see them, all information gratefully received! The library reference is Letters, 1933 : Toogoolawah, Ethel Butler to A. J. McConnel, Item F808. Ethel was musical like her sister Florette. She went to the trouble of binding her music together in a volume embossed with her name 'E. Butler'. On this sample page, she wrote her name and 'New York 1907', suggesting she obtained it there. {{:ethel_music.jpg?250|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P))\\ | Ethel and Roy had five children. Ethel wrote 3 letters in 1933 about her family history. These are in the Fryer Library, University of Queensland. If anyone is in Brisbane and could see them, all information gratefully received! The library reference is Letters, 1933 : Toogoolawah, Ethel Butler to A. J. McConnel, Item F808. Ethel was musical like her sister Florette. She went to the trouble of binding her music together in a volume embossed with her name 'E. Butler'. On this sample page, she wrote her name and 'New York 1907', suggesting she obtained it there. {{:ethel_music.jpg?250|}}((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) Ethel visited her aunt Rosa Praed in England in 1906 and maintained a loving relationship by letter after that. On 12 December 1913, Rosa wrote that she shall 'never forget the time you were with me & the sympathy & rapprochement of that little fortnight which makes me regard you in a closer way than any other of my nieces.'((letters from Rosa Praed to Ethel Butler, in Rosa Praed Papers, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, MSOM64-01, Box 4, item 354, 347-55.)) \\ |
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| 5. **Phyllis** Claudia M-P (23 July 1886 - 1957). She was born at Maroon and baptised at All Saints Church of England, Brisbane by the Rev. M Robinson.(('Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry)). She and Edgar Cannon McConnel married in 1909((Qld marriage registration C892)) and lived for most of their marriage on the McConnel family property [[http://cressbrookstation.com.au/history/|Cressbrook]], near [[wp>/Toogoolawah|Toogoolawah]] in south-west Queensland - close to where her sister Ethel lived after her marriage. Phyllis and her husband were both buried at Cressbrook.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.78 photo of grave; Matthew Fox, //The history of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations: an epitome of progress//, Brisbane: States Publishing Company, 1919, Vol. 1, pp.153-54)) Phyllis and Edgar had four children.\\ | 5. **Phyllis** Claudia M-P (23 July 1886 - 1957). She was born at Maroon and baptised at All Saints Church of England, Brisbane by the Rev. M Robinson.(('Questions to be answered by T.L.M-P’, 6pp Memoranda by the Herald Office, Somerset House, London re Burke’s Colonial Gentry)). She and Edgar Cannon McConnel married in 1909((Qld marriage registration C892)) and lived for most of their marriage on the McConnel family property [[http://cressbrookstation.com.au/history/|Cressbrook]], near [[wp>/Toogoolawah|Toogoolawah]] in south-west Queensland - close to where her sister Ethel lived after her marriage. Phyllis and her husband were both buried at Cressbrook.((Andrew Darbyshire, A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.78 photo of grave; Matthew Fox, //The history of Queensland: its people and industries: an historical and commercial review descriptive and biographical facts, figures and illustrations: an epitome of progress//, Brisbane: States Publishing Company, 1919, Vol. 1, pp.153-54)) Phyllis and Edgar had four children.\\ |