Edith Espie

Edith Espie (1903–1983) was a Western Arrernte woman[1] born at Jay Creek, near Alice Springs, Australia. She was known for services to the community, particularly for caring for and providing guidance to homeless youth and foster parenting many children.[2][3]

Biography

Espie was taken from her family as a young child and taken to live at The Bungalow where she grew up, in care, as a part of the Stolen Generation. Espie was a very caring child and would often help care for the other children by helping Ida Standley, the teacher and matron at the home.[2][4]

Following her departure from The Bungalow, Espie became a keen horsewoman and a jockey in her teen years where she rode, in colours, at the local races.[2]

In addition to her work as a jockey, Espie also made pies and pasties for Snow Kenna's Walk-in Picture Show (now known as Pioneer Theatre), and was the barmaid at the Stuart Arms Hotel. For additional wages she also did ironing for single men.[2] During this time Espie met and had seven[5] children with Victor Lawrence Cook (ca. 1901 – 1959)[6], a labourer who had moved to Alice Springs from South Australia, who would then leave her to start a "new – white – family down south”.[4]She gave birth to at least one of her children in a tent outside the town hospital.[4] For a time, Espie worked as a housemaid at Huckitta Station, north-east of Alice Springs, from where one of her sons remembered leaving in 1941, aged six, to attend Hartley Street School in Alice Springs.[4]

Espie is remembered for providing food and a home for children in need.[2] For example, she was remembered by Gloria Lee, daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a Chinese father, for taking care of Lee after her mother died.[7] She fostered many children and "had a high moral code, stressing the importance of modesty."[2]

Espie had cancer for many years and died at Hetty Perkins Home on 8 March 1983 and was buried at the Garden Cemetery in Alice Springs.

Legacy

Espie Street in Alice Springs is named for her.[3][2]

Espie is the mother of William "Bill" Espie,[1] who became the "highest-ranking police officer of Aboriginal descent in all the Australian police forces" and received high commendations throughout his career; including a Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct for saving two people from burning vehicles.[5]

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References
  1. "Espie Family Event held at Hartley Street School to honour a past student" (PDF). National Trust e-News. National Trust of Australia (NT). August 2017. p. 6. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  2. Petrick, Jose (2005). The history of Alice Springs through street names. Alice Springs, N.T.: J. Petrick. ISBN 0731644379. OCLC 27577058.
  3. "Place Names Register". www.ntlis.nt.gov.au. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  4. Chlanda, Erwin (18 September 2013). "The Boys who made the Big Time". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  5. Brown, Malcolm (24 October 2011). "Espie, William Leonard (Bill) (1935–2011)". Obituaries Australia: Indigenous Australia. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  6. Cossons, Len (1992). Cossons index of N.T. probates: Annual single series. Winnellie, N.T.: Genealogical Society of Queensland. ISBN 978-0-949124-73-9.
  7. McIntyre-Mills, J.; Ververbrants, Olive (2010). "Political Construction of Identity in Central Australia: Reconstructing Identity Through Narratives and Geneology". Systemic Practice and Action Research. 23 (1): 73–85. doi:10.1007/s11213-009-9144-x. ISSN 1094-429X.
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