Dame Elisabeth Joy Murdoch, Lady Murdoch (née Greene; 8 February 1909 – 5 December 2012), also known as Elisabeth, Lady Murdoch, was an Australian philanthropist and matriarch of the
Murdoch family
Members of the Murdoch family are prominent international media magnates and media tycoons with roots in Australia and the United Kingdom, along with their media assets in the United States. Some members have also been prominent in the arts ...
. She was the widow of Australian
newspaper publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
Sir
Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation.
Early life
Murdoc ...
and the mother of international media proprietor
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
. She was appointed a Dame Commander 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 ...
(DBE) in 1963 for her charity work in Australia and overseas.
Family
Murdoch was born in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 8 February 1909. She was the youngest of three daughters born to Marie Grace de Lancey (Forth) and Rupert Greene. Her grandfather, William Henry Greene, was an Irish railway engineer (later one of the three Commissioners of Victorian Railways) who emigrated to Australia and married Fanny, the fourth of the 10 daughters of George Govett. Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and English; one of her maternal great-grandfathers was a lieutenant governor in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
. Elisabeth was educated at
St Catherine's School in
Toorak, and at
Clyde School
Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia by Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results. The school was relocate ...
in Woodend.
She married Keith Murdoch, 23 years her senior, in 1928 and inherited the bulk of his fortune when he died in 1952. Apart from Rupert, her children are Janet Calvert-Jones AO, Anne Kantor AO (1936-2022) and Helen Handbury AO (1929–2004). At her death, she had 77 living descendants.
Philanthropy
Murdoch devoted her life to philanthropy. Before her marriage she worked as a volunteer for the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
. Dame Elisabeth Murdoch joined the management committee of the
Royal Children's Hospital in 1933, serving as its president from 1954 to 1965. A 2003 article in the Melbourne newspaper ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'' said: "Few can rival Dame Elisabeth's enormous contribution. Her interests are so many they need to be alphabetically catalogued: academia, the arts, children, flora and fauna, heritage, medical research, social welfare. Many of Melbourne and Australia's most cherished institutions, from the Royal Children's Hospital to the Australian Ballet and the Botanic Gardens, have benefited from her involvement. But Murdoch also devoted herself to less popular causes: prisoners, children in care, those battling mental illness and substance abuse."
Murdoch was a Life Governor of the
Royal Women's Hospital
The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care, women's cancers and women's health. It als ...
. She was the patron of the
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
The Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) is an Australian paediatric medical research institute located in Melbourne, Victoria, affiliated with the Royal Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne. The institute has six research ...
and of the Australian American Association (Victoria), founded by her husband. She was a patron and founding member of disability organisation
EW Tipping Foundation and a founding member of the Deafness Foundation of Victoria. The first woman on the council of trustees of the
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum.
The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
, Murdoch was a founding member of the
Victorian Tapestry Workshop. She was a member of the Patrons Council of the
Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria
The Epilepsy Foundation is a large Australian charity, headquartered in Surrey Hills, Victoria, which provides evidence-based programs to support to people living with epilepsy, and all those who care for them. Epilepsy Foundation programs are de ...
. Her garden, "Cruden Farm", at
Langwarrin
Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin recorded a population of 23,588 at the .
Langwarrin is bounde ...
, is one of Australia's finest examples of
landscape gardening
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
and is regularly open to the public. It was originally designed by
Edna Walling
Edna Margaret Walling (4 December 1896 – 8 August 1973) was one of Australia's most influential landscape designers.
Early years and migration
Walling was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the village of Bickleigh in Devon, England, seco ...
.
Distinctions
Orders and medals
For her service as president of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Murdoch was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (CBE) in the 1961 Birthday Honours list. For her role in building a new children's hospital in Melbourne, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (DBE) in the 1963 New Year Honours list. In June 1989, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, Civil Division (AC) for services to the community also receiving the Centenary Medal in 2001 for her philanthropic services to the Australian arts community.
Honours
Murdoch was an honorary fellow of the
Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) is the Australian non profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of Australian landscape architects.
History
The AILA was established in 1966 with an interim commi ...
and helped to establish the Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture and the Australian Garden History Society. In 1983, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
in acknowledgement of her contributions to research, the arts and philanthropy.
Trinity College, Melbourne
Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victori ...
, installed her as a fellow in 2000. That year a portrait of Murdoch for the
National Portrait Gallery in Canberra was the first portrait commissioned of the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. The image was composed by painter Christopher Pyett, adapted on computer by
Normana Wight
Normana Wight (born 1936 in Melbourne) is an Australian artist, best known as a painter and printmaker.
Early life and education
Wight studied painting at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1954–57) and after a short time as a fabri ...
and woven by Merrill Dumbrell. In 2001, Treloars gave her name to a new rose introduction. Following extensive donations to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, a Tasmanian species of Boronia (''B. elisabethiae'') was named after her.
She was also awarded by the French government for funding an exhibition of works by the French sculptor
Auguste Rodin in Melbourne in 2002. In 2003, Murdoch was admitted into life membership of Philanthropy Australia, and awarded the key to the City of Melbourne in an official ceremony at the
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central city town hall of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and is a historic building in the state of Victoria since 1867. Located in the central business district on the northeast corner of the intersection between ...
.
In 2004, a high school, Langwarrin Secondary College, was renamed
Elisabeth Murdoch College to honour her work in the local community. Murdoch's charity work earned her the
Victorian of the Year
The Victorian of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding Victorian in any given year. The Victorian of the Year is awarded in Melbourne by the Victoria Day Council as part of Victoria Day celebrations on 1 July annually.
The Victoria ...
award in 2005 at age 96. In 2009, the main performance venue of the
Melbourne Recital Centre
Melbourne Recital Centre is a venue for live music in Melbourne and welcomes over 200,000 visitors each year. The organisation programs and presents more than 500 concerts and events a year across diverse range of musical genres including classi ...
was named in her honour. In 2010,
Geelong Grammar School
, motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom)
, city = Corio, Victoria
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, ...
completed a new girls' boarding house named in her honour.
In January 2007, aged 97 years and 11 months, Murdoch surpassed Dame
Alice Chisholm as Australia's longest-lived dame.
Patronage
Murdoch was a patron of the
Australian Family Association
The Australian Family Association (AFA) is a conservative Christian political organisation. It was founded in 1980 by the National Civic Council's then president, B. A. Santamaria.
Beliefs and lobbying
The AFA states they were formed to "provide ...
.
Death
On 5 December 2012, Murdoch died in her sleep at Cruden Farm, Langwarrin, Victoria, at the age of 103.
References
External links
*
*
''Enough Rope'' interview in June 2008Tapestry portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch at the National Portrait GalleryCruden Farm website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdoch, Elisabeth
1909 births
2012 deaths
Australian centenarians
Australian Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Australian humanitarians
Women humanitarians
Australian monarchists
Australian people of English descent
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian people of Scottish descent
Companions of the Order of Australia
Elisabeth
Australian women philanthropists
Australian philanthropists
Philanthropists from Melbourne
Women centenarians
20th-century philanthropists
21st-century philanthropists
20th-century women philanthropists
21st-century women philanthropists
People educated at St Catherine's School, Melbourne