Eliza Tracey, Perth identity who made her mark on the establishment

Eliza written by Rod Moncrieff

More than a century ago the Perth Esplanade was the setting for a small, stout woman with an Irish accent haranguing a Sunday crowd as she spoke on all manner of issues.

Eliza Tracey was well known in Perth in the late 1880s as a controversial figure, unafraid to speak out against the establishment on various court cases involving the loss of properties in Guildford and other perceived wrongs against her.

Perth author Rod Moncrieff has just released a book, Eliza, which describes Eliza Tracey’s rather tragic life and her battle for justice over many years.

“I heard occasional reports about various Perth identities of the time and the name Eliza Tracey kept popping up,” Rod tells Have a Go News.

“I didn’t know the whole story so about three years ago I started research at the Battye Library, going through articles and documents about her. She was involved in so many court cases.

“Apart from researching newspapers and journals of the time, much valuable information came from Hansard (especially two parliamentary select committee inquiries into Eliza’s case), the State Records Office (prison and jail records, ship arrivals) and WA Historical Society publications. Trove was also invaluable.

“I tracked her biography from when she arrived in WA from Ireland until she died. And I thought, ‘this is a fascinating story of a lady, untold.’

“People were just touching on her and I thought it needed an analytical deep dive so I went searching and obtained a lot of information about Eliza. I started writing and it finally came together.”

Eliza Tracey (1842–1917) was born in India, the daughter of an Irish soldier named Keams. As an assisted immigrant from Ireland she came to WA in 1859 and married James Tracey an illiterate labourer and ex-convict at Guildford on January 12, 1860.

The couple ran an inn but failed to pay their debts. When refused credit in 1873, Eliza twice sued the merchant unsuccessfully. In 1870 the Traceys were charged with stealing sheep, James was imprisoned and then disappeared from Eliza’s life.

Eliza became a housekeeper to widower Richard Edmunds, an ageing blacksmith at Guildford who owned two cottages and a farm. She managed Edmunds’ business and reared his two grandchildren.

With the help of a lawyer, John Horgan, she induced Edmunds to bequeath her a life interest in his properties. After Edmunds death in 1886 she received rent from the cottages and farm but the grandson claimed the farm rents since the titles were in his mother’s name. 

Horgan advised Eliza to contest the three resulting lawsuits but she lost them all.

Eliza’s legal battles had begun.

Rod Moncrieff says Eliza Tracey was a product of the times. 

“She was bucking the odds with society, the establishment and politicians all stacked against her. But she was not afraid to speak out.

“Most of her fame started as the Esplanade orator which was how the public got to know her. She was also attending courts tackling judges, magistrates and lawyers, instituting court actions here and there and really upsetting establishment families such as the Shentons, the Burts and the Lefroys.

“As a woman she was fascinating to me, speaking in a strong Irish brogue, controversial and unafraid. Mostly, she would speak on her court cases which were mainly unsuccessful.

“She spoke on the Esplanade, in Perth Town Hall and travelled to Collie and Northam raising funds. Apart from her court cases she also spoke about women’s issues, the suffragette movement and federation.

“She riled a lot of intellectual people and the judiciary when she accused judges of frequenting brothels in James Street with no evidence. If they had pursued her for defamation, she would have loved it.”

Rod says Eliza was controversial. “She had an unhappy life, a failed marriage and no children. 

“Her husband was a ticket-of-leave man sentenced in Ireland to seven years for housebreaking and stealing who met Eliza in Guildford.

“She came to WA when she was 17 with 100 other single girls and women. It was a big thing to up stakes and come to WA to hopefully meet a well-to-do husband. But, unfortunately, she met James Tracey who was a rogue and that was when the trouble started.

“I think she never got any justice or equity for having properties taken from her even though in the eyes of the law they were taken from her in the right, lawful manner.

“She was not knowledgeable in those early days and when she was, it was too late. She lost her Guildford properties and kept instituting court actions hoping to get them back, but never did.

“But in the early 1900s she got a government allowance of 15 shillings a week which was just enough to help her survive. Some parliamentarians took up her case to see if justice had been done but there was no resolution.”

Towards the end of her life, Eliza Tracey ran a labour bureau. She died at Victoria Park on February 24, 1917 and was buried in the Anglican section of Karrakatta cemetery. Her estate was sworn for probate at 134 pounds ($268).

Eliza by Rod Moncrieff ($40 pp, Hesperian Press), can be purchased from Hesperian Press, PO Box 317, Victoria Park, WA 6979 or contact 9362 5955.