| Creator: |
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| Date of birth: |
1897 |
| Date of death: |
1984 |
| Biography: |
Doris Winifred Hall was born in 1897, the eldest daughter of Melbourne solicitor Percival St John Hall and Harriet ‘Hattie’ Louisa Hall (née Moore). Doris had a privileged upbringing; the family lived at ‘Glenmoore’, a spacious, two-storey villa in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick. Glenmoore had been built as a country house for the Moore family by Hugh Moore, Harriet’s father, around 1868; Harriet and Percival Hall probably moved there in 1895, following their marriage.
Doris attended Cromarty School for Girls, a small, non-denominational private school in Elsternwick, which operated from 1897 to 1923. While at Cromarty, she took a keen interest in tennis, representing the school at the Kia-Ora Club matches against other girls’ schools. She also showed great academic ability, and was dux of the school in 1912. In 1915 she sat her final exams and was accepted into the Bachelor of Arts course at the University of Melbourne, studying a wide range of subjects, including Latin, English literature, French language, and British history. It was around this time that Doris became interested in photography. Doris used her No. 3A camera to document her time at university, her friends, family and summer holidays.
Doris completed her studies in 1918, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. This degree qualified her for membership of the Lyceum Club. Doris also began studying law. In this she was following in her father’s footsteps; Percival Hall had studied law at the University of Melbourne before being admitted to practise as a solicitor in 1889. Doris was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in October 1922.
In 1921 Doris had joined the Victorian Women Graduates’ Association (VWGA), which was formed in November 1920 at the Lyceum Club. She became involved in the committee of the VWGA, first as assistant honorary secretary, then as honorary secretary and later as president. On 26 November 1925 Doris Hall married Rolfe Warren McKellar (son of John Denis McKellar, an influential figure in the publishing industry, who later succeeded his father as managing director of Stock and Land journal). Doris continued to participate in the VWGA as honorary secretary for many years, and was also on the council of University Women’s College (now University College). During World War II she assisted with the management of Stockland Press, and was chairman while her husband was away on military service. Doris McKellar died in 1984.
Adapted from article published in University of Melbourne Collections. See Laurenson, Geoff. Give a woman a Kodak …The Doris McKellar Photograph Collection. University of Melbourne Collections, issue 16, June 2015. |
| Activities/Occupation: |
Students |
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