Mabel Miller
Dame Mabel Miller | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theTasmanian House of Assembly forFranklin | |
| In office 19 February 1955 – 2 May 1964 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mabel Flora Goodheart 30 November 1906 Broken Hill, New South Wales,Australia |
| Died | 30 December 1978(aged 72) New Town, Tasmania,Australia |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Alan John Richmond Miller |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide |
| Profession | Barrister |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Branch/service | Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1941–1944 |
| Rank | Staff officer |
Dame Mabel Flora Miller,DBE(30 November 1906 – 30 December 1978[1]) was an Australian lawyer and politician. She was the first woman elected to theHobart City Council[2]and one of the first two women to be elected to theTasmanian House of Assembly.[1]
Early life
[edit]Born inBroken Hill,the second child ofSouth Australian-born parents, Joseph Christian Goodhart, a draper, and Alice Mary Humphries Goodhart, she was raised in Adelaide. She was educated at Girton House Girls' Grammar School and received herLLBfrom theUniversity of Adelaidein 1927, going on to practice as a barrister inSydneyandLondon.
She married Alan John Richmond Miller (died 1965) on 24 July 1930 at St. George's Anglican Church, Hobart. They settled inTasmaniaand had a daughter.
Military and community service
[edit]DuringWorld War II,Mabel Miller served in the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF); from 1941 to 1944 she was stationed on airbases around Australia. After the war she was active in theAustralian Red Cross Society,the Queen Alexandra Hospital, and the Mary Ogilvy Homes Society. She served as president of theNational Council of Womenof Tasmania from 1952 to 1954.
Political career
[edit]Miller decided to enter local politics when she heard there was mismanagement occurring in the Hobart City Council. She was elected to the council in 1952; she spent 20 years on the council her first sitting ended in 1955 when she was elected to the House of Assembly in 1955 as the member for Franklin.Amelia Bestwas also elected in 1955. She remained in parliament until 1964. After her time in parliament she returned to the council, serving as deputy mayor from 1964 to 1970; she unsuccessfully stood for mayor in 1970, and resigned in 1972.
In 1967 she was the Australian representative on theUnited Nations' Status of Women Commission, and an Australian delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Damehood and recognition
[edit]Miller was appointedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empirefor "distinguished public service" on 1 January 1967.
In 2009 Miller was posthumously inducted to theTasmanian Honour Roll of Womenfor service to Government and to the Community.
Death
[edit]Dame Mabel Miller died on 30 December 1978, in aNew Town, Tasmanianursing home,[3]aged 72, from undisclosed causes, and was cremated.
References
[edit]- ^ab"Miller, Mabel".Members of theParliament of Tasmania.Retrieved24 July2022.
- ^Miller, Mabel Flora,Australian Women
- ^"Miller, Mabel Flora - Woman - The Australian Women's Register".womenaustralia.info.Retrieved15 February2022.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
- 1906 births
- 1978 deaths
- Adelaide Law School alumni
- Australian barristers
- Australian Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
- Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania
- Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
- People from Broken Hill, New South Wales
- Australian women in World War II
- Politicians from Hobart
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- 20th-century Australian women politicians
- Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly