Help us find Effie: Putting a face to one of the women who helped shape Mackay’s history.
The Just Saying Project (JSP) is asking the Mackay community to help put a face to one of the women who helped shape our city’s story.
As JSP prepares to open JSP Home of Women’s Stories at 31 Wood Street on Saturday July 25, the team has been uncovering the history of the building and the people connected to it.
During the 1940s, the property was owned by Effie Mary Williams and her husband, Dr Charles Emanuel Williams. Their contribution forms part of the rich history that helped shape Mackay and lay the foundations of the CBD we know today.
Now, The Just Saying Project hopes to honour Effie’s legacy by displaying her portrait inside the building but first, they need the community’s help to find a photograph.
“We know her name, we know parts of her story, and we know she played an active role in the Mackay community,” JSP Founder Fallon Drewett said.
“But we have not yet been able to find a photograph of her.”
Effie Mary Williams, née McLean, was born at Jolimont, near Calen, in 1881. She married Dr Charles Emanuel Williams in 1908 and became a well-known member of Mackay’s social and community life.
While her husband was a respected doctor, Effie carved out her own legacy through decades of community service.
Newspaper records show she was involved in the Country Women’s Association (CWA) and was a long-serving member of the Mackay branch of the Australian Red Cross.
In 1948, Effie was recognised for more than 20 years of faithful service to the Red Cross. Her work included supporting soldiers, fundraising and contributing to community efforts during both World Wars.
But one newspaper story also offers a glimpse of Effie’s independent and adventurous spirit.
On Monday, January 8, 1940, The Daily Mercury reported that Effie had returned from England aboard a “flying boat”, taking her family and relatives completely by surprise.
She had been overseas with her son, Dr Stanley Williams, who had been completing postgraduate studies before enlisting with the British medical corps for active service during the Second World War.
Deciding there was no need to prolong her stay away from Australia, Effie boarded the flying boat without telling anyone except her son.
After arriving in Townsville, she placed a trunk call to a baffled Dr Williams to let him know she
was only a few hundred miles from home. She then boarded the overnight mail train to Mackay.
“It is such a vivid story. It tells us something about the kind of woman Effie must have been,” Ms Drewett said.
“She appears to have been bold, independent and decisive a woman who made her own plans, trusted her instincts and simply got on with it.”
Effie died on January 21, 1966, aged 84, only weeks after the death of her husband.
The Just Saying Project is now hoping to connect with members of the Williams or McLean families, or anyone in the Mackay region who may have photographs, family albums, memorabilia or stories connected to Effie.
The aim is to find a clear image of Effie so her story can be honoured with a portrait inside JSP Home of Women’s Stories.
“Before 31 Wood Street became JSP Home of Women’s Stories, it was part of the Williams family’s contribution to a growing Mackay CBD,” Ms Drewett said.
“We want to honour Effie not just as the wife of a prominent doctor, but as a woman with her own story, service, character and place in the city’s history.”
Any photographs would be treated with care and could simply be scanned and returned.
Anyone with information about Effie Williams, her family or a possible photograph is
encouraged to contact The Just Saying Project via hello@thejustsayingproject.com .