Dame Pattie Maie Menzies GBE (2 March 189930 August 1995) was the wife of Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

Biography

Menzies was born as Pattie Maie Leckie at Alexandra, Victoria, the eldest daughter of John Leckie, a Deakinite Liberal who was elected the member for

Benambra Benambra is a small town 28 kilometres (17 mi) north-east of Omeo and 430 kilometres (267 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne, in the Australian Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Nearby towns incl ...

in the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1913. He won the federal seat of

Indi Indi may refer to: *Mag-indi language *Division of Indi, an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives *Indi, Karnataka, a town in the state of Karnataka, India *Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface, a distributed control sys ...

in 1917. Pattie usually accompanied her father on electorate tours until he lost his seat in 1919. Pattie Leckie attended

Fintona Girls' School Fintona Girls' School is a small, independent, non-denominational, day school for girls, located in Balwyn, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1896, Fintona is a non-selective school and currently caters for approximately 600 stud ...

in Melbourne, and during this time saw

, but they were not formally introduced until 1919. After they met, Menzies became a regular visitor at her father's home. On 27 September 1920 they were married at Kew

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in Melbourne. Soon after their marriage, the Menzies bought the house in Howard Street, Kew, which would become their family home for 25 years. They had three surviving children: two sons and a daughter. Another child died at birth. Her father was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1934, serving until 1947. In 1940 he was appointed Minister without portfolio in his son-in-law's ministry, and later Minister for Aircraft Production. Menziesandwife

Honours

In the

1954 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1954 to celebrat ...

, Pattie Menzies was appointed

Dame Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Order of the British Empire. The official citation read: "In recognition for her years of incessant and unselfish performance of public duty in hospital work, in visiting, addressing and encouraging many thousands of women in every State of Australia, including very remote areas, and in the distinguished representation of Australia on a number of occasions overseas". Her husband was knighted in 1963.

Other

In the 1967

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

challenge, the Australian syndicate headed by Sir

Frank Packer Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family. Early life Frank Packer was born in K ...

raced an International

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

racing yacht which was named ''

Dame Pattie ''Dame Pattie'' is an International 12-metre class racing yacht built for the America's Cup challenge series in 1967. She was designed by Warwick Hood and built by W.H. Barnett in New South Wales, Australia. The 1967 challenge cost $2 million ...

'' in her honour. Sir Robert Menzies died in 1978. In 1992 Dame Pattie moved back to Melbourne from

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

to live with her daughter, Heather Henderson. She was a founding member and first patron of the

Australian Monarchist League The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is an incorporated nonprofit organisation, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, promoting and educating on the Australian Constitution and monarchy. The organisation was part of the "no" campaign in the ...

Death

Dame Pattie Menzies died in

on 30 August 1995, aged 96. Her ashes were interred alongside her husband within the 'Prime Ministers Garden' at Melbourne General Cemetery. She was survived by her daughter, Heather Henderson, having outlived not only her husband but both of her sons. Then Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating described Dame Pattie, upon her death, as “a very great Australian” and an inspiration to fellow Australians. This is in contrast to Dame Pattie, not long before her death, had described Keating as "a monster" and "a disgrace".https://www.theaustralian.com.au/50th-birthday/an-end-and-a-beginning/story-fnlk0fie-1226912058064

Honours

of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire 1954.

References

Sources

Australia's Prime Ministers – National Archives of Australia
*

External links

Australian Dictionary of Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menzies, Pattie 1899 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Australian people 20th-century Australian women Australian Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Australian monarchists Australian Presbyterians Spouses of prime ministers of Australia Robert Menzies Wives of knights People from Alexandra, Victoria Burials at Melbourne General Cemetery