Shirley Jeanette PITT

1924 - 2019  (94 years)

• Name	Shirley Jeanette PITT
  Birth	6 Sep 1924	Edgecliff, NSW, Australia   [1]
  Gender	Female
  _UID	F7A9737A5D134D5095D4E90A71DA552AC014
  Death	26 Jan 2019	NSW, Australia   [1]
  Notes	Published in the Wentworth Courier on 31 July 2019: Among the treasures in Bonhams’ $1 million Australian jewellery auction next month are special pieces from the Minter legal dynasty writes Alison Stephenson Jeanette Minter loved her jewels so much she felt compelled to regularly visit them at the bank at Double Bay, for fear their lustre and sparkle should stay hidden in the vault too long. Her diamonds, pearls and gems, collected from travels in Hong Kong, Greece, Egypt and beyond, would be put on “rotation”, plucked from the cold, hard walls of the safe to ensure each piece was worn proudly and allowed its time to shine. “She would often say to me ‘come down and see the jewels with me’,” recalls her daughter- inlaw and fellow jewel enthusiast Robbie Minter, “so I would do that. I’m obsessed with jewellery and so was she.” Born in Edgecliff in 1924, Jeanette, wife of fourth-generation Minter Ellison lawyer Robert Minter, passed away in January this year leaving behind three children, eight grandchildren, a further eight great-grandchildren and a collection of jewellery most women could only dream of. Her father was an architect and project manager who built “half the red brick flats around the eastern suburbs in the ’30s”, including apartments in Bellevue Hill, Billyard Ave in Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point. This included the art deco apartment block, Macleay Regis, in which Gretel Packer snapped up the penthouse less than two years ago for $8.75 million. Just down the road from the latter lives Jeanette’s eldest son Robert and his wife Robbie, who describe the Minter matriarch as a trailblazer who bought and sourced jewellery for herself at a time when most women would wait for their husbands to select pieces for them. Cultured pearls specially selected from their family friends, the Paspaleys, in Broome, a 4.61ct round brilliant-cut diamond ring, ornate bee brooches “upgraded” with extra diamonds by her personal jeweller in Hong Kong, Jeanette was nothing if not passionate and particular about her jewels. Decades after she collected them across the globe, 30 of her most prized pieces are now up for auction for other eastern suburbs women and collectors to gush over, part of a 258 consignment totalling more than $1 million that will form Bonhams first fine jewellery auction in five years at their Queen St Woollahra headquarters on August 14. A week prior on August 8, the Wentworth Courier will host an exclusive event for readers to peruse the jewels at Bonhams and secure the first look at the extensive consignment, including the complete Minter collection. “You have passions in life, some people love clothes, some people love shoes, but that was hers,” said Robbie. “She just adored her jewellery.” Added Robert, who is also a lawyer and the fifth generation to work for the family’s Minter Ellison firm where he practised for 29 years: “She was persistent, she was always on a mission, it had to be right. She was very particular, it had to sit in the right spot and have the right clasp. “A good eye and a lot of work and persistence has gone into this jewellery, which buyers will get the benefit of.” But as her eldest son attests, Jeannette, though elegantly dressed to the very end, “was a worker, she wasn't just a pretty lady buying jewellery”. From her father Jeanette inherited a love of property, building two houses in Moncur St in Woollahra, her Point Piper home and Palm Beach house and went through a “Paddington phase” where she was buying terraces and doing them up. “The last apartment that she lived in in Edgecliff, she did it up when she was 89 or 90,” recalls Robert. “She was always busy. “If I didn’t ring her at age 93 by 9am, she was gone and she wasn't back until 5pm. “She wasn't sitting in the corner with a crocheted shawl in a rocking chair. She was right there, doing it all. She was a very energetic soul, right until the end.” Jeanette’s jewels are among the showstoppers in the 258-piece collection up for auction on August 14. The decision was made to divest some of the inheritance because of confusion over which pieces Jeanette promised to whom. “There was a round-the-table decision by the siblings to put it to auction,” said Robbie. “If we want anything, we buy it back out of the estate, then it becomes fair. I’ve already got my eye on a couple of pieces which I might buy back.” Merryn Schriever, director of Bonhams and Australia’s only female fine art auction house director, says ordinarily such pieces would be sold overseas. However, Bonhams have decided to offer the gems to local bidders first. “I was in Hong Kong, talking with Australian clients who were there bidding in our South East Asian sale, and they were saying, ‘Why aren't you selling jewellery in Australia? We would love to collect jewellery at home, but to get the quality that we demand we’re flying to Hong Kong to bid in the sales’,” she said. “There is considerable strength locally and the demand has been quite exciting. Even one week after posting online that people are very excited that they can access that international market here in Queen St.” For Fiona Frith, Bonhams fine jewellery specialist, the phone has been running hot with interest from London, Switzerland, Singapore, New York and Hong Kong. But she predicts most of the pieces will be sold to buyers who live not far from the auction house’s Woollahra doors — and it will be women snapping them up. “Now women are saying ‘I’m buying myself something’. They’re buying cocktail rings because they deserve it. They’re more in control of their financial situation,” she said. “They don’t wait for their husband or boyfriend, they know what they want for themselves.” Frith adds: “Jeanette (Minter) was someone who was doing that at a time when traditionally a husband chose your jewellery. “The first 30 lots of this catalogue are Jeanette, they are her. There is a story with every piece and they're the best of all. They’re the things that people often embrace.” The Daily Telegraph (Australia) followed up on 20 August 2019: "Minter family jewellery exceeds expectation The late Jeanette Minter’s stunning 4.61ct diamond ring fetched the biggest price of the night at $113,460 — but there was one family piece in particular that caught the eye of Robbie Minter. Bonhams Australia held its first jewellery auction in five years last week following the Wentworth Courier’s exclusive reader event at their Queen St headquarters. Many of lucky readers who perused the entire collection during our champagne evening a week prior were in the room to bid at the auction on August 14. Almost 200 of the 268 lots were sold at the auction with local collectors and buyers making up two-thirds of the 200 registrations, with the remainder phoning in from the US, Asia and the UK. Merryn Schriever, Director Bonhams Australia, said the feedback from local eastern suburbs bidders at the auction was so positive, they are hoping to hold another jewellery auction in November prior to Christmas. The Minter collection, featured in the Wentworth Courier’s cover story late last month, formed the first 30 lots of the auction and were among the highest-selling and most sought-after pieces on the night. The late Jeanette Minter’s stunning 4.61ct round brilliant-cut diamond ring fetched the biggest price of the night, going home with a local buyer for $113,460. Robbie Minter (pictured right with husband Robert), the daughter-in-law of Jeanette Minter, kicked off the first sale of the night, securing her mother-in-law’s 18ct gold hinged bangle for $5,856, after telling the Wentworth Courier she had her eye on it, to match a ring she had bought with Jeanette during their travels to Athens, Greece. Jeanette’s Paspaley pearl necklace was another sought-after piece, selling for $12,200, with the accompanying Paspaley diamond leaf clasp reaching $4270. Her diamond and gold bee brooches were among the surprises of the evening, with a single bee selling for $1708, well above the estimate of $300-$500, and a set of two bees selling for $3050, blowing away the $600-$800 expectation. Schriever said the sales of the ornate animal-themed brooches, including a fish which sold for and a $1464, a gold and ruby Boucheron bird brooch which fetched $4636 and a gem-set lion brooch for $6710 reflected an encouraging return to novelty and “fun” jewellery pieces."
  Person ID	I514	Canterbury, Kent
  Last Modified	22 Jan 2020

  
  

  Family	Robert Hugh Minter,   b. 9 Sep 1921, Rose Bay, NSW, Australia d. 14 Nov 2011, Darling Point, NSW, Australia (Age 90 years)
  Marriage	7 Jan 1948	St Mark's, Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia   [2, 3]
  	From marriage register at ancestry.com: Robert Minter, law clerk of Rawson Rd, Rose Bay NSW, bachelor, born Rose Bay NSW, 26, father Clifford Minter solicitor, mother Nellie Ethel Nivison. Shirley Jeanette Pitt of 9 Wiston Gadns, Edgecliff NSW, spinster born Bellevue Hill NSW, 23, father Eric Clarke Pitt (dec'd), architect, mother Amy Martha Cecilia Cooper. Witnesses C C Phillips, C Minter From the Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 8 January 1948, with a picture: Wedding At St. Mark's MR. AND MRS. ROBERT MINTER leaving St. Mark's Church, Darling Point, after their wedding yesterday afternoon. The bride was formerly Miss Jeanette Pitt, the eldest daughter of the late Mr. E. C. Pitt, and of Mrs. Charles Phillips, of Double Bay, and the bridegroom is the second son of Mr. and Mrs. C. Minter, of Rose Bay.
  Children	1. Robert Clifford Minter   2. Andrew Charles Minter   3. Cecilia Jane Minter
  Family ID	F188	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 Sep 2017

  
  

• Sources

  [S41] Ryerson Index, August 2008 and later. [S28] New South Wales BMD index on-line December 2007 and later. [S71] http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18056552.