Myra Juliet Farrell

Myra Juliet Farrell
Myra Juliet Farrell in 1939 with her grandchild Jennifer
Born	Maria Julia Welsh 25 February 1878 County Clare, Ireland
Died	8 March 1957 (1957-03-09) (aged 79) Mosman, New South Wales
Other names	Myra Juliet Welsh; Myra Juliet Taylor
Occupation	inventor,painter

Myra Juliet Farrell (also Myra Juliet Welsh and Myra Juliet Taylor; 25 February 1878 – 8 March 1957) was an Australian visionary, inventor and artist. Born in County Clare, Ireland, she migrated to Australia as a child, growing up in Broken Hill, travelled widely and settled in Mosman, Sydney. She held more than two dozen patents ranging from a military barricade to a press stud that could be applied without stitching.

Myra Farrell was born in Ireland on 25 February 1878 and was registered as Maria Julia, the third of six children of Marcus Frederick Welsh and Harriett Curtis (née Dove) of Scragh House, County Clare. Farrell's family were Protestant, descendants of the Reverend George Studdert, chaplain to William III of England. Many of her family were clergy, or military. They were major land-owners in County Clare, and many served as magistrates and as High Sheriff of Clare. Farrell's father travelled to New Zealand where he took part in the Maori Wars and married Harriett Curtis Dove, the daughter of an engineer. Marcus Welsh then returned to Ireland with his wife, to take up his estate at Kilrush. The destruction of the Scragh House by arson caused the family to flee to their Studdert relatives who provided a home for them for several years in the ruinous Bunratty Castle.

In the 1880s the family migrated to Australia, where Farrell's mother, Harriett Welsh, had been born, and where one of Marcus Welsh's brothers was already living. They disembarked in Adelaide and travelled north to Broken Hill. Silver had recently been discovered to the west at Umberumberka. Marcus and Harriett established a school at the new town of Silverton and for a time had the author Mary Gilmore as their assistant. They then moved into Broken Hill and established St Peter's School, where Myra was educated. Harriett Welsh was particularly esteemed as a music teacher. Farrell's brothers remained in Broken Hill, while her sisters married and moved to Sydney and Perth.