Exhibit Honours the Life of Marie

The Star, November 3 2005

By Sara Corry

An exhibition honouring the life of the first female solicitor in NSW will open at Grossman House on Saturday.

Maitland is the first stop for the National Trust of Australia’s travelling exhibition titled Marie Byles: A Spirited Life which celebrates the life of a committed conservationist, pioneer in law, mountaineer and Buddhist.

Maitland solicitor and business woman Kellie Tranter will officially open the exhibition on November 10 after recognising similarities between her own career and that of Ms Byles.

Ms Byles established her firm in an era when women were just starting to break into professions. Despite Ms Tranter practising almost a life time later, she says that she understands the challenges the pioneer would have faced.

While Ms Byles broke barriers for women in the legal and business realms by establishing her own firm her mark on the world transcended her gender, Ms Tranter said.

“Firstly, Marie was a pioneer”, she said. “Secondly, the way she conducted herself and the way she treated people was outstanding."

“She had all the characteristics that people should expect in any legal practitioner."

“She was principled, honest, hard working, gracious and she set the pace for the rest of us."

Ms Byles colourful life included climbing mountains in Britain, Norway and Canada, leading to expeditions to New Zealand’s Mount Cook and Mount Sanseto in western China near Tibet, and travelling the world on a Norwegian Cargo boat that led to her book, By Cargo Boat and Mountain.

She was also a founding member of the Buddhist Society of NSW. The National Trust recognises her as a pioneer for conservation, particularly after she bequeathed her Cheltenham property to the organisation in 1970.

National Trust of Australia’s Julie Petersen said the exhibition was part of the Trust’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

“She really is someone who should have been more well known”, Ms Petersen said.

The exhibition attracted about 500 people at the National Trust Centre in Sydney in September.

Marie Byles: A Spirited Life will wrap up in Maitland on December 11 bound for Erina and Bathurst.