Mabel Pye was a printmaker and painter. She was born in Box Hill in 1894, probably at the family’s Loch Street property. She was the daughter of Alice Eleanor Noar and her husband William Edward Pye, who married in 1893. William was known as Ted and is recorded in electoral rolls as a legal clerk and later as a public servant. Mabel had a sister Hazel who was also an artist, but less well known. 12 Loch Street, Surrey Hills was known as ‘Mulberry Hill’ and the Pyes appear to be the first occupants – Alan Holt’s register of Surrey Hills properties has them there from c1900. The property was originally about an acre in size and was later divided into 4 house blocks. In 1923 they built a house for themselves on one of the blocks facing Benwerrin Street and called it ‘Tanglewood’. The Loch Street house abutted the Surrey Hills Reservoir and was diagonally linked to the land in Benwerrin Street. In 2019 both the houses still stand. The family were involved in amateur theatre and at times the studio doubled as a rehearsal space for the Benwerrin Players, a group which operated through the late 1920s and early 1930s being comprised of friends and neighbours from Benwerrin Street and Windsor Crescent. Some of their performances were at the Surrey Hall in Union Road. Most of Mabel’s known work dates from the 1930s. She had studied under Bernard Hall at the National Gallery School. Mabel was a member of both the Victorian Artists Society from 1918-1941 and also the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors from 1920-1950. Her work is represented in the Australian National Collection and in state galleries. The NGV has one of her works, the Gallery of NSW has 9 works, a large body of works and personal material is held by the Ian Potter Collection and there is one piece in the City of Whitehorse Collection. This ink sketch of the White Horse Hotel is signed MP and dated 1933, the year the building was demolished. A black and white studio photograph of a young lady standing beside a pedestal and wearing a light coloured dress with 3/4 length sleeves, dark stockings and lace up shoes. A corsage of dark flowers adorns the bodice. loch street, surrey hills, artists, whitehorse hotel, box hill, miss mabel pye, city of whitehorse collection, william edward pye, miss alice elanor noar, mrs alice eleanor pye, frank stamford

The group includes Misses Mabel and Hazel Pye with family and friends taken pre-1920 at their home at 12 Loch Street, Surrey Hills. Both Hazel and Mabel Pye were artists and their father built a studio at the back of the Loch Street home. The family were also associated with the amateur theatre group ' The Benwerrin Players'. Black and white photo of a group comprised of one man and 5 ladies, seated and standing in front of a verandah of a timber Edwardian style home and on the edge of a rectangular pool. One lady holds a fishing rod. There are mature eucalypt trees around them. One lady holds a sunshade.noar family, loch street, artists, hazel pye, mabel pye, benwerrin players

Both Hazel and Mabel Pye were artists and their father built a studio at the back of the 12 Loch Street home. The family were also associated with the amateur theatre group 'The Benwerrin Players'. Information from Frank Stamford (via Surrey Hills History Facebook page), March 2017: "This photograph was taken around 1918. It is a family occasion. The four people sitting down, from left to right, are Clara (Dolly) Stamford nee Noar (my grandmother), Frank Stamford (my grandfather), Laurence Stamford (my father, who was born in 1904), and Hazel Pye (a cousin of my father). The three people standing, from left to right, are Alice Pye (nee Noar) - mother of Mabel and Hazel, and sister of Clara, Reg Stamford (brother of Laurence, and born in 1900), and Mabel Pye." Dorothy Stamford was a cousin of Hazel and Mabel Pye.Black and white photo including Misses Mabel and Hazel Pye with other family members. The group is seated and standing in front of a verandah of a timber Edwardian style home.loch street, artists, 'tanglewood', mrs clara ellen stamford, miss clara ellen noar, frank stamford, laurence stamford, hazel pye, miss alice elanor noar, mrs alice eleanor pye, reg stamford, mabel pye

Joan Richard was a speaker at the Surrey Hills Historical Society meeting in November 2013. A watercolourist, she has been a long standing member of MSWPS, Past and Recent President in 2017 and a Life Member. The Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors was founded in 1902 by women who had been students at the Art School of the National Gallery of Victoria, to provide a forum for artistic discussion and an opportunity to view and comment on each other's work. Originally named the Students' Art Club, it became "Woomballana" (meaning either 'everlasting beauty' or 'search for beauty') Art Club, The Women's Art Club, the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and finally, in 1954, the present title was adopted. The history of the MSWPS and its members’ achievements, issues of the workplace, family and art commitments, the economic survival of artists, migrant artists and prejudice against women are also explored. Much of the information in “More Than Just Gumtrees” has not been available in previous publications; it includes hitherto unpublished sources - oral history interviews, minute books, reviews, letters, early photographs. There are includes biographies of over 300 artists, with individual exhibition lists, representation in public collections etc REF: MSWPS website. Artist Mabel Pye, who lived in Surrey Hills, is one of the featured artists.A history of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors and of the women who have belonged since 1902. Some of these women have become well-known to the art world, other have slipped by un-noticed. Incl. index, bibliography.To the Surrey Hills/Historical Society/Presented by/Joan Richard/19th November/2013melbourne society of women painters and sculptors, women painters, women sculptors, mabel pye, joan richard