Joan Tait was a member of the Tait family of theatrical entrepreneurs. She appears to have been related to Sir Frank Tait (possibly a daughter) and appears in the Sir Frank Tait Family papers. Her second name was Iris which was also the first name of Sir Frank's first wife, Iris Barnard. Joan Tait wrote a local history, Emu Plains (1974), and edited Palm Beach 1788-1988 (1984) as Joan Steege.