About Beryl McLaughlin
Beryl Mary McLaughlin was an early female architect and enthusiastic amateur historian. In 1922, she was one of the first women to receive a Bachelor of Architecture from the newly established School of Architecture at the University of Sydney. Later in life, Beryl became a prominent member of the Wentworth Falls community. She was active in the region’s civil defence activities during the Second World War and was a generous supporter of the Blue Mountains Historical Society throughout her life.
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Building a career
Beryl McLaughlin was born in 1988 and grew up in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. In 1907 she enrolled at the University of Sydney to study science, graduating in 1910. She taught in private schools in Sydney’s north before returning to Sydney University in 1918 to study architecture. When Beryl graduated in 1922, she became one of the first 8 graduates of the Faculty of Architecture and one of its first 3 women graduates.
After completing her Bachelor of Architecture degree, Beryl was employed by Henry Eli White, a prominent New Zealand architect who designed several theatres in Sydney, including the famous State Theatre. Beryl may have assisted on these projects while working with White. She also carried out smaller commissions, such as designing a house at St Andrews Road in Leura for her sister Ida and brother-in-law Harold.
The McLaughlin family and 'Tarella'
Beryl's father, John McLaughlin, was granted 20 hectares in Wentworth Falls, and it was on this estate, that he built 'Tarella' in 1890 as the family's holiday home. Following her father's death in 1918, the property was inherited by her brother John Harley McLaughlin. Beryl's sister and mother occupied the property, while Beryl stayed with friends in Sydney and visited on weekends while studying and working as an architect.
The move to the Mountains
The Depression brought Henry White's architectural career to an end, and his firm closed in 1933. Beryl’s career also declined following the firm’s closure and she relocated to Wentworth Falls permanently in 1934. Beryl did not work as an architect on a regular basis after this. In the late 1930s, Beryl bought 'Tarella' from her brother where she lived on and off until her death.
Civil defence activities in the Second World War
During the Second World War, Beryl became heavily involved in local civil defence activities at Wentworth Falls. She supervised camouflage net making work at the local golf club, ‘where the nets were roped on Monday and Thursday mornings each week’.1 She was also in charge of the Wentworth Falls Volunteer Air Observers Corps, who provided a 24-hour plane spotting service.
Involvement with the Blue Mountains Historical Society
Beryl and her sister Ida were early members and generous patrons of the Blue Mountains Historical Society following its formation in 1946. They made ‘Tarella’ available to the Society as a meeting place and museum to house a growing collection of historic items.
In the early 1960s, Beryl designed and built what are now the Blue Mountains Historical Society’s research rooms, adjacent to 'Tarella'. In 1967, she sub-divided part of the estate and transferred the northern section to the Society. When her sister Ida died in 1980, Beryl transferred more land, including 'Tarella' itself, to the Society and the remainder of her estate passed to the Society after Beryl’s death in 1988.
Remembering Beryl
Beryl played a significant role in the local community of Wentworth Falls over many years, particularly in the Second World War. Due to her generous support of the Blue Mountains Historical Society from its formation in 1946, the annual McLaughlin Memorial Lecture honours the memory of the McLaughlin family and ‘particularly of Beryl Mary McLaughlin, chief benefactor of the Historical Society’.
References and further reading
[1] 'Camouflage netmaking at Wentworth Falls', The Blue Mountains Advertiser, 24 April 1942, p. 4.
'Tarella Cottage Museum', Blue Mountains Historical Society.