Ada Beveridge

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, ''née'' Beardmore (15 February 1875 – 20 January 1964) was an Australian Country Women's Association leader. Born at Townsville in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

to commission agent Frederick Joshua Wathen Beardmore and Emily Anne, ''née'' Commins, Ada attended Sydney Girls High School as a scholarship student before studying at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, receiving her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1896 with first-class honours in English and becoming a schoolteacher. She married grazier James William Caldwell Beveridge at

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on 20 January 1904 and moved to his property at Gundagai and later Junee. Beveridge joined the Country Women's Association (CWA) soon after its 1922 establishment and was founder of the Junee branch in 1926. From 1937 to 1940 she was international vice-president of the Pan-Pacific Women's Association, attending conferences in

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(1934) and

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(1937). She was elected state president of the CWA in 1938 and vigorously performed her duties, despite a serious car accident in 1939 and contracting

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in 1940, the year in which she retired. As president of the CWA at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she actively mobilised support for the war effort and was foundation director and executive chairman of the Women's Australian National Services from 1940 to 1942. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1941. Beveridge contested the

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at the 1943 election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, temporarily suspending her involvement with the apolitical CWA. After her defeat she returned in a local capacity before travelling to

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in 1947 and

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in 1951 as a delegate to the

Associated Country Women of the World The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) is the largest international organization for both rural and urban women, with a membership of nine million in over 70 countries. ACWW holds a triennial conference and publishes a magazine, ''The Cou ...

conferences. Having moved to Roseville after her husband's death in 1959, Beveridge died there in 1964 and was cremated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beveridge, Ada 1875 births 1964 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women People educated at Sydney Girls High School