1902 - 1973

Bea (Beatrice), Miles was a bohemian rebel and a renowned Sydney eccentric who visited Bondi often. She was born in Ashfield, grew up in St Ives and was educated at Abbotsleigh private girls’ school, from which she graduated with Honours in English. She used an inheritance from her grandmother to escape an unhappy home life. She studied Medicine and then Arts at Sydney University but discontinued her studies before graduating. She was suffering from the rare brain disease encephalitis at that time.

In 1923, Bea’s father responded to her ongoing family conflict about her free-spirited, eccentric lifestyle by having her committed to Gladesville Mental Hospital. She remained incarcerated there for two years, till media publicity resulted in her release.

Her high-profile eccentricities were legendary, but she was highly intelligent and well read, and would recite any passage from Shakespeare, for a fee. Despite the money from her grandmother’s estate, she was usually homeless. The B Miles Women’s Foundation was named after her but is not funded through her estate.

She was renowned for hitching rides in taxis and trams and refusing to pay the fare. She once boarded a Bondi tram, and when she refused to pay, the driver alighted and Bea steered the vehicle to the beach, stopping for passengers along the way.

Another story recounts that when legendary Bondi lifeguard Aub Laidlaw apprehended Bea for bringing a sheep on to the beach, Bea responded that although the beach had a ‘NO DOGS’ sign, it had no sign about sheep. When Aub responded that there was no grass for the sheep to eat, Bea responded that the animal didn’t want to eat, just sunbathe.

Bea was a good swimmer and was often seen at Bondi Beach, a sheaf knife strapped to her leg to protect herself from sharks. She was reputedly the first woman to swim across Bondi Bay.

In old age, Bea claimed, “I have no allergies that I know of, one complex, no delusions, two inhibitions, no neuroses, three phobias, no superstitions and no frustrations.”

Bea’s life has been the inspiration for several Australian literary works. David Mitchell’s musical Better Known as Bee was first performed in 1984, and Kate Grenville loosely based her 1985 novel Lilian’s Story on Bea’s life. In 1995, the book was turned into a movie starring Toni Collette and Ruth Cracknell.

Courtesy Waverley Library’s Local Studies Collection, Little Sisters of the poor, Fairfax Media, the State Library of New South Wales, the National Library of Australia, and the Randwick City Library Collection.