Gladys Selby "Jim" Buntine (née Spurling; 7 September 1901 – 15 July 1992) was the Australian Chief Commissioner of

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

from 1962 until 1968.

Biography

Spurling was born at Fitzroy, Victoria. She attended Merton Hall from 1913 until 1917 and then a finishing school at Vallois, France. Spurling married Dr (Martyn)

Arnold Buntine Martyn Arnold Buntine (27 December 1898 – 26 February 1975) was an Australian headmaster and Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After retiring from football he attend ...

(1898–1975) on 17 May 1926. The couple were known as Arnold and Jim and they had two sons. Her husband was a

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

who became a

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

and as he rose professionally she became an "ideal Headmaster’s wife". From the early 1930s, Jim Buntine became involved in the Girl Guides movement in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. After moving to back to the eastern states, she became a member of the Victorian State council and in Sydney from 1962 until 1968 she was chief commissioner for Australia. Buntine attended world guiding events in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, Britain, Malaya, Japan, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and, in 1967, she escorted the world chief guide on an Australian tour. Almost two decades after her husband's death Buntine died at Kilsyth Retirement Village, Kilsyth, Victoria.

Honours

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 ...

(1960) in recognition of service to the welfare of youth * Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1966) in recognition of service as Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association * Silver Fish Award (1966) awarded for outstanding service to Girl guiding combined with service to world GuidingPeople Australia – Buntine, Gladys Selby (Jim) (1901–1992)
Retrieved 24 May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buntine, Jim 1901 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Australian philanthropists Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Scouting and Guiding in Australia Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Melbourne Recipients of the Silver Fish Award People educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women