The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Janet Mitchell was born in Melbourne and grew up in Victoria. She studied music at the Royal Academy of Music in London during WWI, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of London in 1922. After returning to Australia, she held a senior position in the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) from 1924-1926.

She began working for the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales in 1926, where she worked until 1931. She was the first woman to hold an executive position in a big Australian bank. Later, as a journalist in Mukden, she witnessed the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, an experience which inspired her only novel, Tempest in Paradise written in 1935. In 1933 she was acting Principal of University Women’s College (Sydney) and then spent the years 1934 to 1940 in England. During this six year period Mitchell spent time working as a journalist She also published her autobiography, Spoils of Opportunity.

Events

• 1934 - 1940