Historical information

Painted for the Shire of Eltham Historical Society by Audrey Cahn, a member of our Society for many years and Vice President till 1978.

Audrey was the sister of the late Charis Palling, founding president of our Society. She had remained a member for many years although she had moved from her family home at Warrandyte to live with her daughter in New South Wales. Audrey had been blind for some years but maintained a local interest by having our Newsletter read to her.

Audrey's associations with Warrandyte started because her father Professor Osbourne had bought 60 acres in 1904. " Gold mining was beginning to die out and Warrandyte was a decaying area. Land was cheap because of the lack of transport and the soil was poor for farming” Audrey said.

Audrey first attended school in the city at the Church of England Girls Grammar School and was always a bit rebellious. “If I felt some restrictions were unfair or some judgement unjust, I resented it”.

Audrey got into Agricultural Science at Melbourne University and in 1928 was the second women to get such a degree.

Audrey married in 1926, and later divorced Leslie Cahn an architect. They had twin daughters whom she left with her parents in Warrandyte while she studied dietetics during the depression. She found employment as a microbiologist at the Kraft/Walker Milk and Cheese Factory in Drouin - she drove home at weekends to see her daughters who were then at boarding school.

During the war Audrey was in charge of catering at the Heidelberg Military Hospital – again the appointment of a women caused some unrest. She was in the army for more than 4 years and achieved the rank of General which-made her the most highly-ranked-woman at the hospital.

After the war she became a senior lecturer in Dietetics at Melbourne University, again being aware of the limitations her gender brought to promotion possibilities. During her time at the university, she undertook a series of studies in nutritional biochemistry. Of especial note is the analysis of common dietary foods so that the composition and calorific value, the data that was needed for inclusion in Food tables - that professional sports people and weight-watchers so avidly follow today! She was an early proponent of the need to reduce fat intake and to substitute saturated fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids.

In the 1950's Audrey and fellow workers established norms for the growth of Australian children to be compared with British and American children. Over 17 years they concluded that Australian children were overweight and inactive - what is new!

She bought a cottage in Warrandyte as her home. In 1968 she retired to further develop her other interests as a potter and painter. Audrey was a foundation member of the group of potters that set up Potters Cottage.
Audrey died in 2008 aged 102.

(Ref:Newsletter No. 185 March 2009)