BATE, THELMA FLORENCE (1904-1984), community leader, was born on 3 August 1904 in Sydney, second surviving daughter of Olaf Olsen, a Norwegian seaman, and his Melbourne-born wife Florence Beatrice, née St Clair. In 1912 her mother married Carl Gustav Sundstrom, whom Thelma regarded as her father. She was close to Sundstrom, who believed that a good education was important for both girls and boys. A bright and talented student, unafraid to speak her mind, she attended the selective Fort Street Girls’ High School and the University of Sydney (BA, 1928).

After teaching at Meriden Church of England Grammar School, Strathfield, and travelling abroad with her parents, Thelma married a grazier, Richard Falkner Harvey, on 20 June 1934 at St Philip’s Church of England, Sydney. They lived on his property near Ivanhoe, where she was introduced to the Country Women’s Association of New South Wales. Following the death of ...

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Source:

Australian Dictionary of Biography