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Jane Isabella (Isabel) McComas (1864–1960)

Daughter of John W. McComas, of Melbourne, who arrived in Australia in 1851, and was a member of the Church of England Assembly and Vice-president of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and Founder of the firm of William Haughton & Co.; the present head of which is Mr. R. B. McComas, Director of the Commonwealth Bank and Member of the Council of the Working Men’s College.

Born, Victoria, and educated privately; studied classics with T. R. Andrews, C. H. Rendall and R. H. Blackwood.

In 1893 undertook the position of Principal, Glamorgan Preparatory School for Boys (founded in 1887 by Miss A. W. McComas), holding this position to date. In 1919 this school was moved from Wallace Avenue to the premises formerly occupied by Toorak College in Douglas Street. Number of pupils limited to 120 boys, including some 30 boarders, ages ranging from five to thirteen. Many well-known men have had their early training at this school, including: Mr. Bruce (former Prime Minister), also four sons of Sir Robert Garran (one of whom was a Rhodes scholar), Dr. Alan Mackay (Jnr. ), Dr. T. a’Beckett Travers, the two sons of Sir Frederick Mann, the elder Mr. James Mann now a Rhodes Scholar, Mr. A. Johnstone Stoney, Lecturer to the University, Brisbane, Queensland, and many others.

Miss McComas has held the position of Honorary Treasurer of the Toorak Branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society for many years, and is a Member of the Classical Society.

ADDRESS. "Glamorgan,” Douglas Street, Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria.

This person appears as a part of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10. [View Article]

Citation details

'McComas, Jane Isabella (Isabel) (1864–1960)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/mccomas-jane-isabella-isabel-7790/text30470, accessed 28 March 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

26 September, 1864
Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

14 October, 1960 (aged 96)
Colac, Victoria, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.