Jessie (Gypsy) Argyle

Jessie Argyle (born Gypsy Argyle; 1900 – 1 September 1955) was an Australian Aboriginal woman from the East Kimberley region of Western Australia who has been cited by many writers in reference to the appropriation of Aboriginal earnings by the Aborigines Department and the politics of interracial relationships in a racially divided nation. She married an Englishman named Edward Smith and remained dedicated to the Aboriginal community.

Early life Argyle was born in 1900 in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia to an Aboriginal woman and a white cattleman. After the Western Australian Aboriginal Act (1905) was passed, her and her half brother were deemed orphans and forced to travel 150 miles by foot from Argyle Police Station to Wyndham in 1906. From there, a cattle steamer, Bullara, took them to Fremantle, then by train to Swan Native and Half Caste Mission in Guildford, an Anglican reformatory and industrial school. As part of the assimilation process, she was forced to give up her name, Gypsy, and became Jessie Argyle. She was faced with poor living conditions, strict curfews, and abuse from the Aborigines Department. Suffering from recurring bone disease, Jessie was removed in 1924 to Moore River Native Settlement for a year for time to heal. However, she attributed her removal to her relationship with Englishman Edward Alfred Byron Smith. Jessie worked in the sewing room and nurses quarters at the institution, known for their harsh conditions. She snuck a letter to her previous boss, who allowed her to return. In 1925, she resumed her relationship with Smith under close supervision from employers and the Aborigine Department.

Activism Argyle's house on Glendover Street was important to the Aboriginal community. She provided refuge for domestic servants between jobs, women visiting their children in institutions, Aboriginal World War II soldiers, and for anyone seeking companionship. Argyle welcomed Aboriginal folk into her home and entertained them with marathon card games. The department was suspicious of the gatherings in Argyle's home, suspicious of her for crime or prostitution. Argyle is remembered as a strong and lively woman, and was known as the ‘Duchess of Glendover Street’ or "Mum Smith".

Kinnane documents the destruction of many of Argyle's files, especially from 1938 into the 1950s, after the appointment of Stanley G. Middleton as Commissioner for Native Affairs, whose policy centered around assimilation and bringing the "Australian way of life" to Aboriginal families.

Kinnane also co- wrote Ghost Files; the missing files of the Department of Indigenous Affairs Archives with Lauren Marsh, a book that explores the destruction of personal files by the Department of Indigenous Affairs, Department of Native Welfare (1955–72), Department of Native Affairs (1936–55), and Aborigines Department (1926–36).

Death Argyle was admitted to Royal Perth Hospital in 1954 after suffering from diabetic ulcers. After having her left leg amputated, family and friends came to visit her to show their support and play cards. She died on 1 September 1955 of coronary insufficiency associated with septicaemia and was buried in Karrakatta cemetery.