Ethel May Eliza Zahel

Ethel May Eliza Zahel (3 February 1877 – 9 April 1951) was an Australian public servant and schoolteacher who was born in Mackay, Queensland, Australia.[1] On 6 November 1895 she married Mark Charles Zahel, solicitor, at her parents' home in Mackay.[2] In 1905 she moved to Thursday island with her husband who died there on 4 June 1907. Ethel accepted a permanent appointment to the Torres Strait Islands teaching service dated on 15 June 1909. She moved to the island of Yam with her daughter Ethel Lorenza, who died a few months later.[3]

Ethel May Eliza Zahel

In October 1909 she opened a school on Badu (Mulgrave Island) and lived in the household of Frederick Walker, a former missionary. In 1915 she was given control of the Papuan Industries Ltd. 'company boats', owned by Islanders and signed authorizations for provisioning the vessels and payments made for pearl-shell and trochus brought back to Badu.[4]

Australia declaration of war with Japan led to her evacuation from the Torres Strait on 29 January 1942 and she then retired from the public service.[5] She died in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 9 April 1951.[1]

References
  1. Lawrie, Margaret. "Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. "Family Notices". Mackay Mercury (Qld. : 1887 - 1905). 7 November 1895. p. 2. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. Margaret Lawrie, 'Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/zahel-ethel-may-eliza-9225/text16301, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 28 December 2021.
  4. Margaret Lawrie, 'Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/zahel-ethel-may-eliza-9225/text16301, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 28 December 2021.
  5. Margaret Lawrie, 'Zahel, Ethel May Eliza (1877–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/zahel-ethel-may-eliza-9225/text16301, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 28 December 2021.


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