Enid Lyons
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia | |
---|---|
In office 6 January 1932 – 7 April 1939 | |
Preceded by | Sarah Scullin |
Succeeded by | Ethel Page |
Personal details | |
Born | Enid Muriel Burnell 9 July 1897 Smithton, Tasmania, Australia |
Died | 2 September 1981 Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia | (aged 84)
Resting place | Mersey Vale Memorial Park, Quoiba |
Political party | Labor (until 1931) UAP (1931–1945) Liberal (after 1945) |
Spouse | |
Children | 12, inc. Brendan and Kevin |
Occupation | Teacher |
Dame Enid Muriel Lyons
Lyons was born in Smithton, Tasmania. She grew up in various small towns in northern Tasmania, and trained as a schoolteacher. At the age of 17, she married politician Joseph Lyons, who was almost 18 years her senior. They would have twelve children together, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. As her husband's career progressed, Lyons began assisting him in campaigning and developed a reputation as a talented public speaker. In 1925, she became one of the first two women to stand for the Labor Party at a Tasmanian state election. She followed her husband into the new United Australia Party (UAP) following the Labor split of 1931.
After her husband became prime minister in 1932, Lyons began living at
Early life
Birth and family background
Lyons was born on 8 July 1897 at Leesville, a small sawmilling settlement outside Smithton, Tasmania. Her birth was registered just over one month later. She was the second of four children born to Eliza (née Taggett) and William Burnell.[1] Her father, a sawyer and talented musician, was born in Devon, England, and grew up in Cardiff, Wales, before immigrating to Australia at the age of 17.[2] Her mother was born in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, to an English immigrant father who had drawn by the Victorian gold rush. Her forebears in England had been middle-class, but the family fell into relative poverty in Australia.[3] Lyons' parents first met at Angellala on Queensland's western railway line, where her widowed maternal grandmother Louisa Taggett (née Orchard) had won a catering contract. They married in Brisbane in 1888 and initially settled in Burringbar, New South Wales, where their first child was born. They moved to northern Tasmania in 1894 to be closer to William's parents, who farmed in Somerset.[4]
Lyons' biographer Anne Henderson has speculated that William Burnell may not have been her biological father, and that she may instead have been fathered by Aloysius Joyce Jr., the son of a prominent local businessman. However, she also notes that "nothing [William] did in rearing her would suggest she was not his own".[5] According to an account from the Joyce family, William confronted Aloysius Joyce Sr. and the two were overheard arguing, with Joyce eventually accepting Enid as a blood relation and agreeing to provide financial support to the Burnells if William raised her as his own daughter.[6] Henderson suggests this as an explanation as to how the family were later able to secure a loan to buy property with limited income and no collateral.[7]
Childhood
In 1901, Lyons and her family moved to
Marriage
Eliza Burnell introduced her 15-year-old daughter to
State politics
Lyons' husband, an MP since 1909, was elected state leader of the ALP in the aftermath of the 1916 party split over conscription.[19] She was an active member of the ALP in her own right, appearing as a women's branch delegate at the 1918 state conference where she successfully amended one motion and co-sponsored a motion for compulsory military training with Edmund Dwyer-Gray.[20] Her position as wife of the opposition leader gave her greater public prominence and beginning at the 1922 state election she began making appearances on his behalf.[21] In October 1923, Lyons' husband was unexpected appointed premier of Tasmania following the collapse of the incumbent Nationalist government.[22] She was expected to undertake various social engagements on his behalf, although she had to meet her own expenses and usually had to rely on public transport.[23]
In 1924, Lyons gave birth to her seventh child, the first born to an incumbent Tasmanian premier.
1925 candidacy
In 1925, Lyons and her mother became the first women to stand as ALP candidates in Tasmania. The
She appealed primarily to female voters and frequently used domestic metaphors in her speeches, while also attacking the Nationalist opposition for financial mismanagement. The ALP ultimately won its first majority government in Tasmania, with Lyons finishing around 60 votes short of election in Denison.[31]
Federal politics
In 1931 Joseph Lyons left the Labor Party and joined the
Widowhood
Lyons suffered from "nervous exhaustion" in the period immediately after her husband's death.[34] She fainted or collapsed on a number of occasions and spent several weeks in hospital, initially at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, and later at Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne.[35] She had some requests to stand for his seat at the resulting by-election, including from Jessie Street, but declined.[36] Outside of the family home, Lyons was left only £344 (equivalent to $17,000 in 2022) from her husband's estate.[37] In the absence of any parliamentary pension, the government under caretaker prime minister Earle Page immediately drafted legislation to provide annuities for her and the couple's seven dependent children. There was some opposition from Joseph's political opponents who regarded the amount as excessive, and she was eventually awarded an annual grant of £500 (equivalent to $25,000 in 2022) with another £500 for the children's education through to the age of 16. Lyons received thousands of letters of condolence, which she answered with the help of family and her husband's former staff, but also received hate mail over the annuities issue – "filthy epithets, threats, dead rats, things even more revolting" – leading her to stop opening her own mail.[38]
In December 1939, Lyons began a series of weekly Sunday evening broadcasts for
Member of Parliament (1943–1951)
External audio | |
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Recording of Lyons reading her maiden speech in the House of Representatives The original speech was not broadcast, but due to public demand she recorded it for broadcast on radio. There were a few differences in wording between the speech that was broadcast and the official Hansard transcript.[43] |
Lyons was elected to the
Lyons gave her
In August 1944, Lyons was one of four speakers in a debate on population which became the Australian Broadcasting Commission's "largest controversy during the war years".[49] Lyons devoted a chapter to this debate in her 1972 autobiography, calling it "one of the most disturbing experiences I was to know as a member of parliament". Her fellow debaters were Norman Haire, Jessie Street and the economist Colin Clark.[15] Later in 1944, Lyons and Phyllis Cilento presented a report to the National Health and Medical Research Council arguing for the government to support an increase in the national birth rate.[50]
Lyons had a sometimes uneasy relationship with UAP leader
Cabinet and retirement
Lyons had
Lyons again increased her majority at the election and was widely expected to be appointed to the ministry in the new government, with newspapers speculating she would be offered the immigration or social services portfolios.[58] She was ultimately appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council, a largely honorary position that she described as "toothless", observing that "they only wanted me to pour the tea".[17] Lyons was disappointed not to be offered a substantive ministerial portfolio and believed that Menzies "did not want her in the ministry but seemed to have been pressured into giving her some sort of spot".[58] She did however acknowledge that her poor health would have limited her ministerial capabilities and that there was intense competition for cabinet positions following the Coalition's landslide victory.[58]
Lyons was sworn in to office with the
Later life and legacy
In retirement, Dame Enid's health recovered. She was a newspaper columnist (1951–54), a commissioner of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1951–62), and remained active in public life promoting family and women's issues. She published three volumes of memoirs, which embarrassed the Liberal Party by reviving her complaints about Menzies' 1939 behaviour towards her husband.[15]
Lyons was made a Dame of the Order of Australia (AD) on Australia Day 1980,[62] the second woman to receive this honour after Alexandra Hasluck. She was the first Australian woman to receive damehoods in different orders. Lyons died at Ulverstone on 2 September 1981, aged 84.[63] She was accorded a state funeral in Devonport before being buried next to her husband at Mersey Vale Memorial Park.[15]
Legacy
Jo Gullett in his autobiography discussed his fellow members of parliament and concluded that, "with hindsight, perhaps the wisest and most far-sighted of them all was a woman, Dame Enid Lyons."
She had all the qualities of a successful member, for she was not only a clear, lucid and logical speaker but she also had an instinctive sympathy, and a wonderful sense of fun. She had beautiful manners and gave everyone the impression that she was happy to see them when she greeted them. Perhaps she really was glad to see them too, and that is the reason why when she rose to speak she usually made her points to a smiling and appreciative House. ... Not only was she a very good parliamentarian but she had thoughts about the role of Parliament and government far ahead of her time. I remember her saying, "I don't think we should automatically and formally differ with the government on everything they do. This attitude of confrontation is all wrong, whether in government or opposition. There are so many things in which we already do agree, and lots more on which we could both afford to modify our extreme views or attitudes. ... We shall never deal with the real problems if we continue to waste so much time arguing over minor points of difference. Remember too that all this arguing confuses people. If we, who are their political leaders, can't agree on national principles, how can we expect the people to know what is of national importance and what is not.[64]
An informal political faction of the Liberal/National opposition parties called the Lyons Forum was formed in 1992. The group's name alluded to Lyons' maiden speech to the House of Representatives. The faction was considered to be defunct in 2004.[65]
In March 2023, a dual bronze sculpture of Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tangney was placed in the gardens of Old Parliament House, Canberra. The statues, sculpted by Lis Johnson, were inspired by an iconic photograph of the pair entering the building on their first day of parliament in September 1943.[66] Lyons' granddaughter, former Director of the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency Libby Lyons, described the unveiling as a "wonderful, thrilling moment".[67]
Children
Lyons first fell pregnant a few months after her marriage, but miscarried just after her 18th birthday.[68] She suffered a second miscarriage the following year, and in her memoirs recounted having to watch on as a nurse threw the remains of the foetus into a bedside fireplace. She was told by doctors that she would never be able to have children,[69] but in fact went on to give birth to twelve – the first born when she was 19 and the last born when she was 36. Her subsequent pregnancies went relatively smoothly, with the exception of a third miscarriage in 1926; she had to carry the dead foetus for three months before it could be removed.[70] All but one of her children survived to adulthood, and all those who did out-lived her. Her son Garnet, born in 1924, died from meningitis at the age of 10 months.[71] Another son, Barry, was born with achondroplasia.[72]
- Gerald Desmond (1916–2000)
- Sheila Mary Norma (1918–2000)
- Enid Veronica (1919–1988) – married army officer Maurice Austin
- Kathleen Patricia (1920–2012)
- Moira Rose (1922–1991)
- Kevin Orchard (1923–2000)
- Garnet Philip Burnell (1924–1925)
- Brendan Aloysius (1927–2010)
- Barry Joseph (1928–2015)
- Rosemary Josephine (1929–1999)
- Peter Julian (1931–2021)
- Janice Mary (1933–2020)
Publications
Autobiographical works
- Lyons, Enid (1965). So We Take Comfort. Heinemann.
- Lyons, Enid (1969). The Old Haggis. Heinemann. ISBN 0851794939.
- Lyons, Enid (1972). Among the Carrion Crows. Rigby. ISBN 0851794939.
See also
References
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 9.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 14.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 11–12.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 15–16.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 30.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 24–25.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 31–33.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 36.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 40.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 38–39.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 42.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 44.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 31.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 45.
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ A. Henderson, Faith and politics - Dame Enid Lyons, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 31/2 (2010/11) Archived 15 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, 68-74.
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ a b "Joseph Lyons, before". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 90.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 92.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 100.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 105.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 108.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 120.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 121–122.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 112.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 113.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 115.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 113–116.
- ^ "Joseph Lyons, Enid Lyons". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- Government of Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2008. Note: site says it was granted in 1957.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 255.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 250–253.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 256.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 247.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 257–260.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 265–267.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 266.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 268–269.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 272.
- ^ Dame Enid Lyons: Maiden Speech, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 274–275.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 275–276.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 277.
- ^ "Dame Enid Lyons: Maiden Speech, 1943". National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 291.
- ^ Diana Wyndham. (2012) "Norman Haire and the Study of Sex". Foreword by the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG. (Sydney: "Sydney University Press".), p. 343, quoting Alan Thomas (1980) Broadcast and be Damned: the ABC's First Two Decades. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press), p. 110
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 292.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 288.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 289.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 294.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 295–296.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 286, 293–294.
- ^ Henderson 2008, pp. 297–298.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 298.
- ^ a b c Henderson 2008, p. 299.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 301.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 302.
- ^ Henderson 2008, p. 303.
- Government of Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
- ^ "Dame Enid Lyons dies, aged 84". The Canberra Times. 3 September 1981.
- ISBN 0-7022-2443-X
- ^ Grattan, Michelle (13 November 2004). "A quiet man's revolution". The Age (Melbourne). p. 5.
- ABC News Online, 2023-03-08
- ^ March 24; 2023 - 3:28pm (24 March 2023), 'Wonderful, thrilling moment': Statues unveiled honouring first women in parliament, retrieved 10 May 2023
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ISBN 978-1742240992.
- ^ Henderson (2011), p. 105.
- ^ Henderson (2011), p. 174.
- ^ Henderson (2011), p. 173.
- ^ Henderson (2011), p. 182.
Further reading
- Biographies
- ISBN 978-1925826050.
- White, Kate (1987). Political Love Story: Joe and Enid Lyons. Penguin. ISBN 0140097899.
- Journal articles
- Fisher, Catherine (2017). "Broadcasting the woman citizen: Dame Enid Lyons' Macquarie network talks". Lilith: A Feminist History Journal (23): 34–46.
- Gardam, Faye (1996). "Dame Enid Lyons: a lady with style". Papers and Proceedings: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. 43 (2): 123–127.
- Jenkins, Cathy (2003). "A mother in Cabinet: Dame Enid Lyons and the press". Australian Journalism Review. 25 (1): 181–196.
External links
- Enid Muriel Lyons at The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia
- Listen to a recorded version of Enid Lyon's maiden speech in Parliament and read more about it on australianscreen online. This recording was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.