Author Alexandra Joel wrote of her mother in her book Rosetta, “She had a face that mattered. It seemed beyond the reach of time.”

A tall, blue-eyed brunette with high cheek bones, Sybil was a celebrated beauty with a supremely elegant sense of style. After the war she became an acclaimed model, appearing on the covers of magazines such as the Australian Women’s Weekly.

For many years she was regularly photographed for newspaper social columns, with one journalist reporting that if Lady Joel wasn’t included for a week or two the newspaper would receive letters of complaint from disappointed readers.

Born Sybil Jacobs on September 10, 1924 in Sydney, Lady Joel was a proud fifth generation Australian. On her mother Francis (Billie) Raphael’s side she was descended from Abraham Rheuben, a convict who was transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1828 and later became a successful merchant, alderman and, perhaps most surprisingly, a magistrate.

On her father Frederick Jacobs’ side, her ancestors were the free settlers to South Australia, Charles and Elizabeth Jacobs. Originally a lawyer, Charles pioneered trade with China and Mauritius.

At a time when Australia’s sugar industry was yet to be established, the frequency with which Charles’s fast clipper ships made the journey from Mauritius to Australia laden with sugar earned the family the nickname “The Sugar Jacobs”.

Perhaps it was because of these forebears that Lady Joel possessed a life-long penchant for sweet treats. She happily confessed that as a child she broke into the family pantry, sampling each cake, biscuit and jelly her mother had lovingly prepared for her birthday.

Although the party was promptly cancelled, this did not deter Sybil. Her grandfather’s affectionate name for her was Princess Ice Cream and, indeed, it was ice cream that constituted her final meal.

Sybil grew up in a rambling, waterfront home in Vaucluse with what would now be described as gun barrel views of the harbour. In later years she recalled watching the Sydney Harbour Bridge being built and wondering if its two mighty arms would ever meet.

She was a pupil at Kambala School until the age of ten. When her parents separated, she became a boarder at SCEGGS Moss Vale for two years before completing her education at SCEGGS Darlinghurst.

After attaining her Leaving Certificate, Sybil attended secretarial college. Australia was at war, and she was appointed private secretary to Colonel Kennedy at Victoria Barracks in Paddington before progressing to Woolloomooloo Wharf No.4 as secretary in charge of recording vehicle fleet movements for the Royal Marines. With the influx of international servicemen, she received a great deal of attention and several marriage proposals, all ultimately rejected.

Sybil met her future husband at the Movie Ball in George Street’s glamorous Trocadero in July 1948. Recalling this encounter, Sir Asher wrote: “During the course of the evening, my eye was attracted to the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was breathtaking. I quickly arranged to be introduced, though this began most inauspiciously. Disastrously in fact. The acquaintance I was with opened a bottle of soda water inexpertly and, as he was a bit under the weather, sprayed the carbonated water all over the bare back and beautiful clothes of the striking young woman whom I had wanted to impress.

“My apologies were futile. All I could glean was that her last name was Jacobs. The vision of her sheer loveliness haunted me long after I had returned home. I couldn’t sleep all that night. So, the next day I proceeded to ring up every Jacobs in the phone book, asking ‘Were you at the movie ball last night?’”

Rather like the fairytale prince seeking his Cinderella, Asher finally tracked Sybil down and, once he’d apologised profusely, she agreed to meet him for dinner. After taking her out every night that week, he was sitting in the St James Theatre, gazing at her, when he proposed.

She said yes, and they were married at the Great Synagogue the following April. Asher kept the ticket stubs from that auspicious night at the theatre all his life.

Sybil had an enduring interest in the performing arts and was an avid reader and bridge player, but her greatest passion was for the visual arts. She was a popular guide for over seventeen years at the Art Gallery of New South Wales where she specialised in guiding school children.

Lady Joel was an accomplished hostess, entertaining a vast array of guests including the famous violinist Isaac Stern and classical pianist Ann Schein, Edmund de Rothchild of the banking dynasty, vice-regal representatives, religious leaders, senior politicians, diplomats, judges, admirals and generals.

Lady Joel, who died on August 11, is survived by two children, Michael and Alexandra, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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