Margaret Mittelheuser (1947) (1931-2013)

Burning the candle at both ends leaves a lasting light

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ALUMNAE STORIES

From her first day at school, it was obvious Margaret Mittelheuser was going to make a special mark on the world.

When her mother went to collect four-year-old Margaret—who could already read, write and perform basic arithmetic—from the tiny school in regional Bundaberg, the teacher asked in amazement, `What have you brought us?’

Margaret would go on to carve out an exceptional career in finance and business, becoming the first woman to be registered as a stockbroker in Australia, and one of the first globally. Even more remarkable, is that Margaret didn’t set out to break down barriers, she was one of those rare intellects that didn’t see them in the first place.

As her younger sister Cathryn observed: `She thought it was ridiculous women shouldn’t do what they wanted.’

`I didn’t go to university to make tea’

– Margaret Mittelheuser when asked to make tea for male colleagues in the 1950s

mum-dad-margaret-and-cathryn-at-holstone

Born to a cane-farming family in 1931, Margaret, and her equally precocious sister Cathryn, were able to attend BGGS when their parents moved to Brisbane following WWII.

Margaret went on to study for a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Queensland, becoming one of only two females to graduate 1952, and the first to be employed by the Commonwealth Public Service in Queensland.

Here, Margaret informed colleagues she ``didn’t go to university to make tea’’ when they tried to add her to the office tea roster. She didn’t suffer fools gladly, and her sharp mind, combined with an indefatigable work ethic, saw her reputation quickly rise.

She soon realised she wasn’t cut out for the public service when she was admonished for starting work too early. Limiting her hours to an average 9-5 day just wasn’t her style, Catherine says.

`One of Margaret’s sayings was: ``Burning the candle at both ends makes the light shine brighter.’’ She lived by it. She gave everything to her work.’

`Margaret Mittelheuser was the first woman stockbroker in Australia, and best stockbroker anybody could ever want to have'

Leneen Forde

A small inheritance from an uncle changed the trajectory of her career in her 20s. Margaret decided to invest the money in stocks and consulted Brisbane broker Alban Hale. He was so impressed by her shrewd reasoning, he offered her a job on the spot as his research officer. From there, Margaret made the leap to Sydney, joining Ralph W. King and Yuill, where her role was expanded into analytics and forecasting, after she displayed an uncanny knack for picking winners.

When the firm expanded to Queensland in 1961, they controversially chose Margaret to head up the new office.

Her sister Cathryn, who cared for Margaret until her death in 2013, remembers: `She wasn’t so well received by the other brokers in the first instance, but she got on with things and her career went from strength to strength.’

In 1964, at the age of 33, Margaret was made a partner at King and Yuill, becoming the first woman to be registered as a stockbroker in Australia and among the first globally to achieve this distinction.

Importantly, as former Queensland Governor Leneen Forde would later point out, Margaret was not just the first female stockbroker in Australia, she was the best stockbroker Australia.

Throughout a 50-year career, Margaret was regularly at the forefront of emerging markets. She travelled alone to remote areas of Papua New Guinea during the expansion of mining in the region and flew to Norway at the beginning of the North Sea oil boom in the 1970s to suggest they invest their vast profits through her firm in Australia.

`She was able to pave the way for other young women in business at a time when women were expected to make tea, not trades,’ Cathryn says. `Margaret was delighted when she could see women coming up the ladder and blazing their own trails.’

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The sisters received Honorary Doctorates form the University of Queensland

Despite the great wealth that came with a long and successful career in finance, one of the defining features of Margaret’s life and legacy has been her integrity and philanthropy. She encouraged clients not to accumulate wealth beyond what they needed for a comfortable life. Instead, she encouraged them to give back, and lived by example, making major contributions—alongside her sister Cathryn—to support education and the arts.

Both Margaret and Cathryn, collectively known to many as the Mittelheuser sisters, have played an exceptional role in supporting the ongoing development of BGGS.

They initiated the Artist in Residence scheme and became founding patrons of the School’s Bequest Programme. Alongside this student support, the Mittelheusers have also backed landmark building projects, with the Physics and Chemistry departments in the Science and Learning Centre named in their honour. In 2006, the sisters were also founding donors to the award-winning Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre.

In 2008 they were honoured with the establishment of the Margaret and Cathryn Mittelheuser Museum at the school, recognising their significant contributions to both the education of girls and the preservation of culture.

Margaret’s professional accomplishments and community service earned her an Order of Australia in 1996. She passed away on in December, 2013, but her pioneering legacy and generous spirit continue to inspire those who follow in her footsteps.