Margery Jean Smith

     (For a brief history and context on the Darby family see this page)

NOTE: The information on this page is my research to date and is subject to change as I become better informed. I very much welcome any corrections or additional info you might have - my email address is at the bottom of this page. Whilst historical facts are not copyright, my writing about these facts are. If you wish to use any text from this site on Ancestry or on any other website, please ask me first - Tim Hill.


(For a brief history and context on the Hill family see this page)

Margery was born at 137 MacKinnon Parade on Sunday, 31 March 1907 at Adelaide. This house was built by 1880 as it appears in the Smith Survey of Adelaide of that date. Made from South Australian bluestone with rendered quoins and facings to windows and doors, verandah with cast iron decorative bracket and frieze elements, and eaves brackets..^1,2 Her baptism name was Marjorie Jean Smith however she always referred to herself by the alternate spelling of 'Margery.' She was the daughter of James Smith and Elsie Florence Darby. Her common name was Marge. A picture was taken of Heba and Margery Smith, their parents and their grandmother. It was almost certainly taken at Adelaide.

Not much is known of Marge's early life, but the family evidently moved to Sydney. She moved with her parents to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, circa 1923. However, they only stayed there a year before moving to Sydney.³

John and Margery (along with John's mother Mary) attended the 'Shore' Old Boys dinner dance at The Ambassadors, in Sydney, on Monday, 5 July 1926. John was likely on the organising committee.⁴

John and Margery (along with John's mother Mary) attended a dinner dance organised by the School Clubs Ltd. at the Wentworth Cafe, in Sydney, on Wednesday, 4 May 1927. Also attending was 'Val' Boyle.⁵

John Hill and Margery Jean Smith met at at Manly beach in the Sydney suburb of Manly where John was reportedly a lifeguard. Both were very good swimmers, and Margery would go down with friends. John noticed her from his lookout tower, and one day went up and introduced himself.⁶ Margery lived in 1929 at at 24 Hercules St in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood.⁷ She was a stenographer in 1929.⁸

She married John Hill, a section head at General Motors Holden, son of Joseph William Hill and Mary Alberta MacCallum Bourke, at Sydney Church of England Grammar Chapel on Saturday, 2 November 1929 at North Sydney. She was 22 and her husband John was 23.. Others attending the wedding may well have included Elsie Florence Darby as mother of the bride, James Smith as father of the bride, Mary Alberta MacCallum Bourke as mother of the groom and Joseph William Hill as father of the groom, and perhaps even some of Margery's grandparents. Brothers and sisters who may have attended include Donald Nicholson Hill, Heba Gwendolyn Smith and Mavis Constance Smith. Aunts, uncles and grandparents who may have attended include Walter Thomas Smith, Lucy Deane, Donald Hugh Aloysius Bourke and Argyle Michael Bourke. John and Margery went on to have only one child together.⁷ She and John or Jack. Hill moved to Melbourne circa 1930 so he could take up a job at General Motors Holden; family legend says it was a job as a cleaner but a year later other sources have him as a clerk but either way, work was precious in the Depression. A photograph was taken of them early in their life together.

Margery knitted bed jackets and sold them to the Ball and Welch department store.⁹ Margery lived in 1930 at at 2 Highton Court, High Street in the Sydney suburb of Manly.¹⁰ She was involved in home duties in 1930.¹⁰ Margery and John lived in 1931 at Chequers in Gisbourne Street, in East Melbourne, Victoria.¹¹ A picture was taken of her in a new Chevrolet circa 1935.



Throughout their lives, the three sisters were very close despite being very different. They were intelligent, interested in world affairs and great conversationalists.¹² Margery lived in 1936 at 106 George Street, in East Melbourne, Victoria. For some reason, her address was different from her husband's.¹¹

It was very difficult for Margery to conceive children, and she undertook medical procedures to all this to happen.¹³

Margery, aged 31 and John or Jack. Hill, aged 32 became the parents of first and only child Michael John Hill on Monday, 12 December 1938 at the Mercy Private Hospital, in East Melbourne, Victoria. Mike believed that he was born in the early hours of the morning, as his mother needed to leave the Victory Cinema in St. Kilda midway through a film to go to the hospital. He was given the name Michael as it was the dying wish of his father's mother (Mary Hill née Bourke) who's father was named Michael..^14,15 Margery and John lived in December 1938 at at Flat 3 in 3 Meredith Street in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood.^15,14 Margery Jean Smith and John Hill departed from Melbourne on 24 April 1939 on the S.S. Monterey. They were bound for America and had left their 4 month old child Michael at home with a family friend, Kay Reid.¹⁶ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill arrived in San Franscisco, California, on 16 May 1939 after a journey of 22 days.¹⁷ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill moved to at 3 Were Street in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton circa June 1939.¹⁴ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill departed from New York City on the RMS Aquitania.¹⁸ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill arrived in Southampton on 4 July 1939. This was evidently partially a business trip as their proposed address was Vauxhall Ltd. of Linton, Bedfordshire.¹⁸ John and Margery were in Wiesbaden, Germany, just a month before England and Australia delcared war. They were asked to leave Germany just before the war began.¹⁹ She and John Hill arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 22 August 1939 They had departed from Marseilles.²⁰

Their son Michael remembers "sitting quietly on the top of the stairs late at night while my parents and their friends sang songs, often excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivan, particularly the Pirates of Penzance, which was one of their favourites" when he was young.

John and Margery moved to at 3 Highfield Grove in the Melbourne suburb of Kew in 1949.²¹ A picture was taken of Marge with her first Vauxhall circa 1950.

Margery is remembered as being very socially adept; this was a huge asset to John's career.²²

Her father died 16 June 1950 at the age of 68. Margery was aged 43 when this happened.

In May 1955 Michael and his mother departed on a cruise to England on the Orcades. They met John there, then travelled through Europe. They departed to Melbourne from Naples, returning on the Orion in September of the same year.²¹ Margery and John lived in 1958 at at 11 Crest Avenue in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn.²³ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill arrived in Southampton on 22 September 1958. They were intending to stay for 12 days, staying at 23 Buckingham Gate in London, and they had come from New York.²⁴ Margery Jean Smith and John Hill arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 13 October 1958 after departing from London.²⁵

She was a student at the National Gallery under painter George Frederick Henry Bell (1878–1966) for 20 years.²⁶

Every Sunday, the young Hill family would vist Mike's parents for a meal; Mike would sit inside and watch television, whilst John would take his grandson Tim's and take him out on the patio to cook steak on the BBQ and Margery and her daughter-in-law Barbara would make salads.²⁷ After the meal the young Hill family would go adventuring with Margery leaving the men behind. She wanted to expose the grandchildren to many aspects of life; the art gallery, the zoo, pantomines and live shows in the city. Typically this would be at the Comedy Theatre, the Princess Theatre or Her Majesty's.²⁸

Margery never talked about her father, and never with affection for her mother who she wasn't close to.²⁹

Margery had very narrow feet and George's was the only shop that stocked her size; whenever they had new shoes in, they would send half a dozen pairs out for her.³⁰

Her mother died 27 February 1966 at the age of 81. Margery was aged 58 when this happened.

Her husband John died 12 July 1978 at the age of 72, leaving her a widow at age 71.

Margery died on 25 May 1987 at at 1/371 Toorak Rd. in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra at age 80.³¹

Her will was probated on 4 August 1987.³²