The Australian Women's Register

Kitty Lund was the only child of Clara Ellen and George Lund. Her father was a mine worker and Kit was born and raised in Broken Hill, New South Wales. At the age of seven she began dancing lessons with Lena Atkinson, and before long was gracing the stage of the Crystal Theatre in minor roles such as Tootles in Peter Pan. She went on to star in Alice in Fashion Land (1935), Let’s Pretend (1936), Motley (1937), Brown Boy (1938), and The Sparklers (1939). She attended the first Juvenile Ball and the Golden Jubilee of the Sisters of Mercy, and hosted the Shirley Temple Look-Alike Competition in 1936. At the regular mining company picnics in Silverton, Kit would dance to the bagpipes in the Irish dancing championships. She was friendly with Dorothy Dickson, who went on to work as an actress in London.

Kit finished her studies at St Joseph’s Convent before attending the Convent Business College to learn shorthand, typing and bookkeeping. She found employment with Mr E.R. Hudson, solicitor, and later at the Grand Hotel in Broken Hill. In 1946 she married Fred Harris, a foreman for the Zinc Corporation.

Fred and Kit Harris had three sons, though just one – David – survived infancy. Their twin boys are commemorated with a plaque in the Broken Hill Children’s Cemetery.

Kit Harris went on to teach handcraft at the Broken Hill High School and the Adult Education Programme. She published her first book, Handcrafts, in 1972.