Beryl Mills

Beryl Lucy Mills (3 January 1907 – 13 July 1977), was an advertising agent, librarian and beauty queen. She was the first woman to win the Miss Australia quest in 1926

First "Miss Australia", Beryl Mills of WA, 1927 photographed by Sam Hood

Early life

Beryl Lucy Mills was born on 3 January 1907 at Walkaway, Western Australia, the fifth child of parents Frank Ernest Mills and his wife Kitty, née Gibbons. After winning a scholarship to the University of Western Australia in 1924, and studying languages, she was admitted to Claremont Training College.

Career

Beauty Queen

Beryl Mills was an entrant in the inaugural 'Miss Australia' contest run by Smith’s Newspapers Ltd, owners of Smith’s Weekly and The Guardian. After initial success as 'Miss Westralia', she entered and won the national competition in June 1926 in Sydney. Her winnings included 1000 pounds, two cars and a promotional tour of the United States. She was accompanied by her mother and Sir Frank Packer and was a guest of the Miss America pageant at Atlantic City.

Advertising agent

In Sydney in 1928 she established the Beryl Mills Advertising Service before moving to Melbourne in the 1930s.

Librarian

Beryl Mills returned to Sydney by 1941 and became librarian at Frank Packer's Consolidated Press Ltd. By now she had met an American, Major Leslie Garland Calder, whom she was later to marry in the Unites States.

Personal life

Beryl Mills married journalist Francis Keith Davison on 19 March 1928 at St Michael's Anglican Church, Vaucluse, Sydney. They moved to Melbourne where daughter Judith was born in 1935.

Returning to Sydney in 1941 she met American, Major Leslie Garland Calder. They were to move to the United States and marry on 19 December 1946 in Virginia. She became a naturalized American and moved to Florida in her husband’s retirement. She died there at Punta Gorda on 13 July 1977.

See also

• Miss Australia
• Rosemary Fenton
• Tania Verstak