Bertha Strehlow

Bertha Gwendoline Alexandra Strehlow (16 April 1911 – 30 June 1984) was an educator and pioneer, the first wife of Ted Strehlow, an anthropologist and linguist who worked primarily with the Arrernte People. Although she is often forgotten, Strehlow was her husband's main supporter, and edited his works; she also published some accounts of their activities.

Early life

Strehlow was born in Adelaide to George Pugh James and Rosamond Delila (née Murdoch), who died of influenza in 1919. Shortly after her mother's death, her father married Edith Mary Eaton. She attended St Peter's Girls School and, in her final year, was head prefect. In 1932 she commenced a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Adelaide, where she met Ted Strehlow; she completed her degree in 1934 and began teaching at the Walford Girls School.

She married Ted Strehlow on 21 December 1935 and, the next year, they travelled to Alice Springs on The Ghan railway.

Life in the Northern Territory

The newly married Strehlows arrived in Alice Springs on 18 February 1936, and immediately travelled to Hermannsburg, where Ted had grown up, where they stayed with the family of Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht. During this time, they started preparations for their 'honeymoon', a camel trek through the Petermann Ranges, a part of Ted's role as a Patrol Officer for the Central Australian region. Their journey commenced on 5 June 1936, and they returned to Hermannsburg on 25 September 1936. During this journey, Strehlow had a miscarriage and almost died; she was saved due to the intervention of an Aboriginal woman.

The Strehlows moved in to a tent at the Jay Creek Settlement on 29 May 1937; in early 1938 Strehlow had another miscarriage. Also in 1938 the couple had a house built using 2000 bricks that had been handmade by Ted and three Aboriginal friends. They moved in during mid-1938. During this time, in May 1942, Strehlow gave birth to Theo Strehlow (named for his father) In 1951, Strehlow began teaching at the Wilderness School and, in November, became Vice President of Tatlers, a women’s literary club, founded by Strehlow's long term friend Roma Mitchell. In 1956, she became its president. On 25 September of the same year, Ted married his research assistant.

On 30 June 1984, shortly after a visit to her son, John, in London, Strehlow died of a heart attack; she was 73 years old.

Publications Most of the information about Strehlow's life come from her published articles:

Strehlow, B. (1940). Through Central Australia. Walkabout, vol. 6, no. 10. URL: https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/259202940 Strehlow, B. (1945). A camel trip to the Petermann Ranges across Central Australia. Royal Geographical Society of Australasia. URL: https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/22435354 Strehlow, B. (1949) Glimpses of Lubra Life in Central Australia. Aborigines Friends Association Annual Report, p. 33

And her letters to her husband Ted (1935 - 1960) and her mother-in-law Frieda (1936), which are held in the Strehlow Research Centre.

Legacy Strehlow's life has been celebrated by:

A 2015 exhibition at The Women's Museum of Australia; in collaboration with the Strehlow Research Centre and the Old Lutheran Church History Centre entitled: "Desert honeymoon: Bertha Strehlow and the Petermann Ranges Expedition". Is the focus of Leni Shilton's 2016 PhD thesis: "Giving voice to silence: Uncovering Bertha Strehlow 's voice through poetry" and her 2018 follow up book: "Walking with camels : the story of Bertha Strehlow".