Born: 1858, Australia
Died: 3 September 1939
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
Ada Armytage’s photographs document life within the stately Como House (which her father owned) and among the social elite of her time. Ada’s photographs and her sisters’ diaries, letters and journals make up the Armytage family archive, which preserves the significant moment in history.
In 1913 Ada took her niece, Edna Armytage, to England to visit her sisters Constance and Leila but ended up being stranded there with the outbreak of World War I. Though not as young as some of their compatriots – Ada 55 years old, Constance 43 and Leila 39 – the sisters joined England’s Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) for the Red Cross and were sent to France to assist with the war effort.
The sisters later returned to Melbourne after 11 years away. Due in part of their war experiences the sisters began making changes to Como House, reducing its Edwardian grandeur.
Ada is also believed to have been the “Miss Armytage” who collected botanical samples for the Australian National Herbarium from Pakenham.