How eccentric rebel Bee Miles became more famous than the PM

Whether jumping trains, swimming with knives or reciting Shakespeare for a fee, Bee Miles was always in the public gaze.

Sydney eccentric Bee Miles was known for reciting poetry and taking long taxi rides interstate.

While her name is little known today, Bee Miles was once so famous that newspapers would report her daily activities and even what was in her shopping bag.

Whether jumping trains, swimming in the ocean with knives strapped to her thighs, or reciting Shakespeare in the street for a fee, she was always in the public gaze.

Miles once took the world’s longest taxi ride from Sydney to Perth and back, and was in and out of prison for years.

Her story features in a new episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with Rose Ellis, author of a new book called Bee Miles: Australia’s famous bohemian rebel, and the untold story behind the legend:

“She was voted more famous than the prime minister during the Second World War,” Ms Ellis says.

“She had hitchhiked all around Australia in the 1930s, jumping trains, jumping into the back of cars, riding in lorries.

“And she’d reached the Torres Strait and right up to the Territory by herself, which is something that women didn’t do at the time.”

Bee Miles on a postage stamp.

Miles once tried to stow away on a boat inside a lifeboat, and once waved down a country train while standing in its tracks and hitched a ride to the next station.

Born into a wealthy family, Miles had a luxurious and cultured childhood, and was well educated and bright.

Bee Miles once took a taxi ride from Sydney to Perth and back.

Bee Miles was a seasoned traveller.

But just before sitting university exams, she was struck by a virus called encephalitis lethargica that changed the course of her life.

The virus tended to cause lifelong personality changes, hyperactivity, irritability, hyperkinetic behaviour, and a lack of impulse control.

Bee Miles.

Miles’ behaviour became erratic, and she spent 3½ years in a mental asylum.

“They would strap them to seats, and they would be sitting immobile on seats for days and weeks at a time,” Ms Ellis says. “It was very, very primitive and brutal.”

Sydney eccentric Bee Miles was known for reciting poetry for a fee.

Miles later became renowned as a street performer who would recite any passage from Shakespeare for money.

“Whenever she did something, she did it in a spectacular way and it drew people’s attention,” Ms Ellis says.

“Everybody watched her all the time, so she’d be sitting on the tram, and people would time her doing the Herald crossword, say.

“And then the next day, someone would have written into the paper saying, ‘Saw Bee on a tram do the Herald crossword in two minutes,’ that sort of thing.

“When she went and did her shopping, people would be reporting on what they saw in her shopping bag, and wondering what she might be doing with it.”

To find out more, listen to the interview in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper every Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.