Nola Isabel Constance Barber

OBE 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 ...

(27 December 1901 – 29 December 1985) was an Australian mayor and community worker. Born at Woodend in Victoria to estate agent William Oswald Griffiths and Elizabeth, ''née'' Dick, Nola was educated 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 ...

and graduated from the College of Domestic Economy, after which she was a teacher in Melbourne and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. After studying part-time at 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 nor ...

from 1926 to 1939, she gave up teaching in 1940. On 12 March 1940 she married law clerk David Reaburn Barber, and the couple settled at Aspendale. Barber was elected to Chelsea City Council in 1948, serving until 1957 and again from 1960 to 1975. She was mayor from 1962 to 1963, the first woman to hold that position. A left-leaning councillor, she campaigned for a trained social worker for the area, the establishment of

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

, kindergartens, a local library, a sewerage authority, a spastic centre and elderly citizens' club. She was also a strong supporter of increased federal funding for schools and attended the National Education Congress in 1963. Barber was active in the local community as president of the Aspendale Technical School council, executive member of the Technical Schools Association of Victoria and member of the Aspendale Elderly Citizens' Club, Chelsea Citizens Advice Bureau, Chelsea Community Health Centre, City of Chelsea Historical Society Girl Guides' Association, Chelsea Benevolent Society, Australian Red Cross Society and the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association. A swimming teacher, she was awarded the recognition badge of the

Royal Life Saving Society The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a drowning prevention charity founded in 1891 in the UK. It has had Royal Patronage since 1904. History The Royal Life Saving Society UK is a national charity, founded in 1891 by William Henry, with the aim of ...

in 1963 and the community services award of the Rotary Club of Aspendale in 1977. Appointed

Officer 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 1970, she was included on the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

in 2001 and has a kindergarten in Aspendale named after her. Barber co-founded the Australian Local Government Women's Association in 1951 and joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

in 1955, visiting

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as a delegate in 1958. She ran unsuccessfully as a Labor candidate for the federal seat of

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

in 1958 and 1963 and the state seat of Mentone in 1961 and 1967. She served on the 1959 peace congress committee in Melbourne and was a member of the Australian and New Zealand Congress for International Co-operation and Disarmament, the United Nations Association of Australia (Victoria), the Union of Australian Women and the Aborigines Advancement League (Victoria). Founding president of the Save Our Sons organisation, an anti-

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

ist movement, in 1965, Barber was also a trained

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist. She died at Colac in 1985 and was cremated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Nola 1901 births 1985 deaths Women mayors of places in Victoria (state) Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Mayors of places in Victoria (state)