Previously:
- On the 22nd December 1909, a young woman called Margaret Bale disappeared in Perth WA.
- She was booked to travel from Kalgoorlie to England on the 6th January 1910.
- She was eventually ‘discovered’ living as a man under the name of Martin Able.
- She ‘sold’ her story, ‘When I Was A Man’ to a Fremantle newspaper.
previously – After being refused the position as a gardener, she then applied for the post of steward at the Fremantle Club. She soon tired of this so then applied for the position of Cellarman at the Oddfellows Hotel. This position, as you can imagine, was too taxing and she was eventually sacked. Martin then decided to set up in business for himself. He rented a shop and stocked it with postcards, photographs, and stationary. This adventure proved a calamitous failure. The shop was closed, and the stock sold off. The last position he held was to be at a factory in West Perth with a Mr Croft.
Golden Gate – Fremantle – 8 March 1912, page 1
“When I Was A Man.”
In which are related the Remarkable Experiences
of Miss Margaret Bale as ” MARTIN ABLE.”
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Photo by Jes Fernie
As you may imagine, by this time I was beginning to think that everybody had forgotten all about Margaret Bale. My only fears were least anything should happen to me in the way of accident or injury and that I should in that way be discovered. The agony of suspense had practically gone. It was one night when a friend, Jack Maguire, and I were having tea at one of the cafes when I got my first shock. Usually on such occasions when Jack had a newspaper (generally the West Australian), he handed me the outer or advertisement portion while he looked at the articles. On this occasion, however, he gave me the inner part of the paper and in looking at it almost the first thing that greeted my eyes was a bold headline.
“INTO THE NIGHT.”
Subduing my feelings carefully I scanned the account of the mysterious disappearance of Miss Margaret Bale. The next thing I saw was the article and photograph which appeared in the “Sunday Times”. A day or two after this my landlady asked me if I had seen the sad account in the newspaper of a missing school teacher named HALE. I felt no compunction in saying I had noticed anything about a lady of that name. However, I now began to feel uneasy as something seemed to tell me the days of Martin Able were numbered. I was not at all afraid of committing any foolish act which would have betrayed me, nor did I in the slightest degree lose my confidence, but I was naturally anxious now that I knew the hue and cry had been raised.
Detected by the Detective
It was the memorable afternoon of Aug, 4th 1911 when I had just returned to work after lunch, that someone called. The voice of Detective Dempsey asked if ‘ABLE MARTINS’ was there, he asked me if I was Able Martins. “No. I said, my name is Martin Able. What do you want ?” After that, the capture was an easy matter. “It is all up,” remarked Dempsey “Come with me. We know who you are! You must get out of that rig, and into something more suited to your sex.” To her employer Mr. Croft she said “I am really a girl and not a boy at all. I disguised myself for certain reasons, and this gentleman has found me out”. Mr Croft looked as if apoplexy were about to visit him. Then he came forward and very kindly and graciously shook hands with me. I collected my hat and umbrella and was ushered out.
Detective Dempsey told me that a lady had recognised her from when she ran her postcard shop. Margaret became suddenly sulky, but finally, and at length, agreed never again to masquerade in the apparel of a man. She repeated her assurance to Inspector Council, and on this understanding, she was permitted to return to the company of her friends, who had long mourned her as a dead.
Miss Bale has offered them several explanations as to the motives which prompted her to try and lose her identity by adopting the clothing and mannerisms of the opposite sex. She has said her chief reason was an irrevocable resolution to refrain from returning to Colchester in England. Her experiences have been (to her), of the most entertaining description. As to her future movements, she is at present somewhat undecided. She may return to England, or she may elect to stay, clothed of course in the right manner and arrayed in apparel becoming the sex of a woman. She is not in needy circumstances, although the £40 she carried away with her when she disappeared on 22nd December had dwindled down to half a sovereign. Her personal possessions include about £40 in cash and notes, left in one of her boxes last December, in addition to which £500 lies to her credit at a Colchester bank. For some reason, known only to herself, she has expressed her determination not to draw on her English account for her personal needs and requirements. “I wish to be known in future as plain Miss Bale, a retired life is the one for me.”
About Margaret: She was born in 1881 in Colchester, Essex, England. Her father was Major John Edward Bale, a well-known authority on heraldry and archaeology. Her mother was Charlotte Gordon Lee nee Johnson. She had three siblings, Edward, Veronica, and Constance.
On 25 June 1912 in Port Adelaide South Australia, she married a divorcee, Arthur Emerson Borkwood. They had three children: Lionel Arthur born in 1912 in South Australia and Basil Ambrose born in 1914 and Edwin Harvey born in 1916, both in England. Her husband, Emerson Borkwood was from Northumberland, England. He committed suicide in 1926 in Gloucestershire England at the age of 57yrs. Margaret was also to pass away in Gloucestershire, England in 1952 aged 71yrs.
Margaret Bale as Martin Able
The story was brought to my attention first by Aiden Kelly who also told me what eventually became of Margaret. Also information by her great-niece Jes Fernie and from Ancestry.com.
The story is a compilation of many articles available on TROVE ,if you wish to read further details.
Moya Sharp
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