Nancy Buttfield

Dame Nancy Buttfield, DBE (12 November 1912 – 4 September 2005) was an Australian Senator and the first woman to serve in the Australian Parliament as a representative of the state of South Australia.[1][2]

Dame

Nancy Buttfield

DBE
Senator for South Australia
In office
1 July 1968 – 11 April 1974
In office
9 December 1961 – 30 June 1965
Preceded byGordon Davidson
In office
11 October 1955 – 8 December 1961
Preceded byGeorge McLeay
Succeeded byGordon Davidson
Personal details
Born
Nancy Eileen Holden

(1912-11-12)12 November 1912
Adelaide, South Australia
Died4 September 2005(2005-09-04) (aged 92)
Adelaide, South Australia
Political partyLiberal

Biography

Born in Adelaide as Nancy Eileen Holden, she was the daughter of Sir Edward Holden, the Australian automotive magnate.[3] She first entered the Senate on 11 October 1955, having been chosen by the Parliament of South Australia, under Section 15 of the Australian Constitution, to replace Senator George McLeay, who had died the previous month.

She was elected in her own right in the 1955 general election. On 8 December 1961, she resigned her seat in the Senate, with her term set to expire on 30 June 1962. The resignation was only in order to contest the casual vacancy caused by the death of Rex Pearson, in the 1961 election the next day. Gordon Davidson had been appointed by the South Australian parliament to replace Pearson but did not contest the casual vacancy. Buttfield won the election for casual vacancy and served for the remainder of Pearson's term, due to expire in 1965. Buttfield's vacancy was filled by Davidson, who was appointed on 8 February 1962, for the remaining four months of the term.[4]

Even though her parliamentary service was continuous, she was the first woman member of the Australian parliament to resign.[5] She remained in the Senate until 30 June 1965, having lost her seat at the 1964 Senate election. She was re-elected in 1967, her new term commencing on 1 July 1968. When a federal election was called on 11 April 1974, both houses were dissolved in a double dissolution and she chose to retire, having served a total of sixteen and a half years. She was the last surviving member of the 1955–1956 Senate.

Buttfield was known for her advocacy of women's rights. It is said that, with the encouragement of the then prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, she broke down a long-established convention in Old Parliament House by becoming the first woman to drink at the previously male-only Members' Bar.[3]

Honours

She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the New Year's Honours of 1972.

References
  1. "Buttfield, Nancy Eileen". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  2. "BUTTFIELD, Dame Nancy Eileen (1912–2005) Senator for South Australia, 1955–65, 1968–74 (Liberal Party of Australia)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  3. "Buttfield, Nancy". The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. "DAVIDSON, Gordon Sinclair (1915–2002) Senator for South Australia, 1961, 1962, 1965–81 (Liberal Party of Australia)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  5. Psephos – Adam Carr's Election Archive

Sources
  • Buttfield, Nancy in The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia
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