Jane Elizabeth Tye

Jane Elizabeth Tye (28 July 1869 – 12 June 1934) was a Chinese-Australian midwife who spent much of her life living in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Biography

Tye was born in Creswick in Victoria and was the daughter of Lee and Sarah Hang Gong. In about 1881, when Tye was still a young child, the family moved to Darwin where he father became a prominent businessman and her mother began working as a midwife. In 1883, not long after the move, Tye travelled to Sydney where she remained, without her family.

In addition to serving the Darwin area she would also travel to Borroloola, and other remote areas, with some regularity to assist in births there.

In Darwin George Tye became a contractor and, not able to speak much English, relied on his wife regularly for her interpreting services. Tye would also act as an interpreter in many court cases involving Chinese speakers in the Darwin courts.

Later, with in the same article:

Legacy In 2012 Tye was honoured by Malarndirri McCarthy in the Tribute to Territory Women as a pioneering midwife.