Isobel May "Mysie" Schenk, BEM (''née'' Johnston; 10 January 1898 – 6 October 1980) was a Christian missionary who worked for many years alongside her husband, Rev.

Rodolphe Samuel Schenk Rodolphe Samuel Schenk (29 October 1888, Macorna, Victoria – 7 August 1969) was an Australian missionary. He attended a New South Wales interdenominational theological college and in 1917 joined the United Aborigines' Mission. From Walgett, whe ...

(1888–1969), at the Mount Margaret Mission in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Rev. Schenk established the mission in 1921, under the auspices of the ''Aboriginal Inland Mission'' (later the ''

United Aborigines Mission The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) (also known as UAM Ministries, United Aborigines' Mission (Australia), and United Aborigines' Mission of Australia) was one of the largest missions in Australia, having dozens of missionary, missionaries and st ...

'' (UAM)). She was born in

Prahran, Victoria Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnin ...

in 1898 to William Johnston and Mary Marcella McKay Johnston. She was a typist when she met Rodolphe Schenk in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, where they married. She later "taught crafts to the women" on the mission. The mission was made a central 'rationing station' and was visited by anthropologists and researchers including

A. P. Elkin Adolphus Peter Elkin (27 March 1891 – 9 July 1979) was an Australian anthropologist and Anglican clergyman. He was an influential anthropologist during the mid twentieth century and a proponent of the assimilation of Indigenous Australians. E ...

Phyllis Kaberry Phyllis Mary Kaberry (17 September 1910 – 31 October 1977) was a social anthropologist who dedicated her work to the study of women in various societies. Particularly with her work in both Australia and Africa, she paved the way for a femin ...

Joseph Birdsell Joseph Benjamin Birdsell (March 30, 1908 – March 5, 1994) was an American anthropologist known for his work on Indigenous Australians, which spanned from the 1930s through to the 1970s. He was a long-serving professor of anthropology at the Uni ...

and

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. He is best remembered for his work mapping the various tribal groupings of Aboriginal Australians ...

. Along with the

Chief Protector of Aborigines The Australian colonies in the nineteenth century created offices involved in managing the affairs of Indigenous people in their jurisdictions. The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role beca ...

in Western Australia, these researchers engaged in the assimilation debates of the day. Rev. Schenk's "unsympathetic and fundamentalist interference with traditional practices"—such as

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

, the ritual drinking of blood ... and in-law avoidance laws—attracted criticism from

, and resistance from Aboriginal elders. Many Aboriginal children were taken to the mission, which had a children's home and a hospital, and mining- and pastoral -related work was carried out there.

BEM

Isobel May Schenk was awarded the BEM in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

for her work in Aboriginal welfare.

Death

She died in October 1980 in

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; ) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King G ...

Family

The Schenks had three daughters and a son, who survived their parents: Margaret Morgan, Esther Milnes, Elizabeth Miller and Roderick Schenk.

References

External links

BiodataBattye Library, State Library of WA, one of archives of 'A drop in a bucket' by Margaret Morgan
* S Preston Walker, 'Enriching Australia through educating indigenous people', S Preston Walker, Camp Hill, QLD, Australia, 2008, , (United Aborigines Mission missionary 1940-1955). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schenk, Isobel Australian Protestant missionaries People from Prahran, Victoria People from Bunbury, Western Australia Female Christian missionaries Protestant missionaries in Australia 1898 births 1980 deaths Australian recipients of the British Empire Medal