Thelma Bate

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Thelma Florence Bate CBE (née Olsen; 3 August 1904 – 26 July 1984) was an Australian community leader and women's activist.

Early life and education

Born Thelma Florence Olsen in Sydney on 3 August 1904, she was the daughter of Norwegian seaman Olaf Olsen and his wife Florence Beatrice Olsen (née St Clair), who was born in Melbourne. Her mother married Carl Gustav Sundstrom in 1912.^[1]

Thelma attended

Kirkby continued to contest elections for the Country Party but was not elected. She represented New South Wales at the Associated Country Women of the World conference in Toronto in 1953, and continued to be active in the community. A committee member of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, she was the New South Wales representative to the United Nations Association of Australia International Women's Year committee.^[1]

Bate was honorary secretary (1957–1959) and president (1959–1962) of the CWA, when she became known for her strong support of the inclusion of

She married grazier Richard Falkner Harvey on 20 June 1934 at St Philip's Church of England in Sydney and settled on his property near Ivanhoe, where she joined the Country Women's Association. Her husband died in 1946.^[1]

She married Kenneth Kirkby, a Country Party executive member, on 8 December 1949 at St John's Church of England in

She died on 26 July 1984 at Gordon.^[1]

References