Myra Juliet Farrell

Myra Juliet Farrell (also Myra Juliet Welsh and Myra Juliet Taylor; 25 February 1878 – 8 March 1957) was an Irish /Australian visionary, inventor and artist. Born in County Clare, Ireland, she migrated to Australia as a child, growing up in Broken Hill, travelled widely and settled in Mosman, Sydney. She held more than two dozen patents ranging from a military barricade to a press stud that could be applied without stitching.

Myra Juliet Farrell was born on 25 February 1878. Originally from County Clare, Ireland, she was an inventor and painter that went by the names Myra Juliet Farrell, Myra Juliet Welsh, and Myra Juliet Taylor. Her father was Marcus Frederick Welsh, a military engineer with the Royal Irish Regiment. His family traced its ancestry to King William III's chaplain. Her mother, Harriet (née Dove), was born in Australia and moved to Ireland with her husband, Marcus Welsh, shortly after they were married [1]. Her mother's father, Samuel Dove, was a plant engineer at a distillery in Sydney, and subsequently owned an engineering business in New Zealand.

From childhood, Farell looked for ways to simplify life and improve functionality. She revealed in interviews that her innovative ideas frequently originated from her dreams [1]. These inspirations would wake her up, and she would record them while half awake before they slipped away. Later, it was learned that she had a rare neurological condition called somnambulant writing, which allowed her to focus on an idea as she slipped into sleep. When she awoke, she would have an invention developed or problem solved by morning . This aided her in having so many revolutionary inventions that are still in use today.

One of her inventions was a corset without any hard stays. Many women in the 1800s and 1900s found corsets fashionable and wore them often, however, they began demanding change as they knew these corsets could cause damage to their bodies due to their tight fit and hard material [3]. Farrell knew about these health risks and wanted to fix this issue, so in 1911, she received an Australian patent for a new form of a corset that was equally as supportive but was washable and ‘boneless’. She sold these corsets around the world. Myra Farell originally created it to support women with scoliosis, but the corset grew in popularity amongst women who wanted to wear it for fashion [4]. While corsets have changed in design over time, she revolutionized the way women dressed forever by providing comfort and reducing the health hazards posed by corset garments.

Farell had several inventions. In 1905, Miss Myra Welsh obtained a patent for her initial creation, which was a clever mechanical tracking device. This innovative machine had the ability to replicate sewing patterns of a fixed size from books directly onto fabric, while also allowing for adjustments in size. As a result, seamstresses and tailors could now produce custom-fit garments more effectively, ensuring they remained true to the original design. Another of her inventions aided in Australia's war effort. This was her “stitch-less button”, known as the press-stud today, and her “stitch-less hook and eye.” This gave soldiers the ability to rapidly take on and off the now pull-apart fronts of their khakis. She also created a Defence Fence, which had survived the lengthy assessment process, from many culled entries, following the department's shout-out for ideas [2].