The Australian Women's Register

The only daughter of Cecil and Nydia Edes, Margot attended Morgan Street Infant School, North School, Central School, and finally Broken Hill High School, where she remained until the age of 16. On leaving school, she travelled to Adelaide to undertake a four month course in comptometry at the Peacock Brother’s Business College.

Back in Broken Hill, Margot spent four years in the employment of accountant Jack Firth before taking up a position at the Zinc Corporation. In 1956 she married Ray White. Despite union laws discouraging married women from working, Margot was equipped with comptometry skills and returned to the workforce in 1958 – had a qualified single girl applied for her job, she would have had to relinquish it. Margot’s responsibilities included calculating the ‘lead bonus’ each month for employees of the mine. This was a payment made in addition to the regular salary and based on the price of lead on the London metal exchange.

In 1967, Margot resigned from her job to travel overseas with Ray and gave birth to her daughter the following year. In 1970, when her daughter was two years old, she somewhat reluctantly recommenced work for accountant Eric Minchin, who desperately needed help with an audit. In between looking after her daughter and doing the housework, Margot would work from home on the dining room table.

Margot retired in 1997 at the age of 64, and is an active member of the Broken Hill Family History Group.

This entry was prepared and written by Georgia Moodie.