Born

25 August 1909
Collie, Western Australia, Australia

Died

2 May 1978
Maylands, Western Australia, Australia

Occupation

Journalist and Print Journalist

Alternative Names

• Auntie Nell (pseudonym)
• Mary Ferber (pen name)
• Peg Peggoty (pseudonym)
• Sanderson, Boronia Lucy (birth name)

Summary

Bonnie Giles studied journalism in Western Australia in the 1920s but struggled to balance study, work and family and failed to complete her diploma. This did not, however, stop her from establishing an enduring career. She wrote under a variety of pseudonyms for the Perth Daily Mail the best known of which - 'Mary Ferber' - became a household name. For twenty years her column, which was essentially a 'Dorothy Dix' column, was a 'Monday must for her admirers'. Giles also used her column and considerable community standing to advance philanthropic causes that were close to her heart. She retired from journalism in 1969.