'Ethel May (‘Monte’) Punshon (1882-1989), teacher, was born on 8 November 1882 at Ballarat, Victoria, elder child of Victorian-born parents Alfred James Punshon, book agent, and his wife Elizabeth Ann, née Lyons. As a young girl Ethel moved with her family to Melbourne, where she won a prize for fancywork at the Centennial International Exhibition in 1888. The Punshons returned to Ballarat during the 1890s depression. Educated at state schools in Brighton Road, St Kilda, and Urquhart Street, Ballarat, Ethel also studied drawing at the Ballarat School of Mines. She harboured a desire to be an artist, but followed her father’s wishes by becoming a trainee teacher at Brighton Road.' (ADB)
