Dame Pattie Maie Menzies GBE (2 March 189930 August 1995) was the wife of Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

Biography

Menzies was born as Pattie Maie Leckie at

Alexandra, Victoria Alexandra is a town in north-east Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 130 kilometres north-east of the State Capital, Melbourne. It is located at the junction of the Goulburn Valley Highway (B340) and Maroondah Highway (B360), in the Sh ...

, the eldest daughter of

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

, a

Deakinite Liberal The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

who was elected the member for

Benambra Benambra is a town 28 kilometres (17 mi) north-east of Omeo and 430 kilometres (267 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne, in the Australian Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Nearby towns include Swifts ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

in 1913. He won the federal seat of

Indi Indi may refer to: *Mag-indi language *Division of Indi, an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives * Indi, Karnataka, a town in the state of Karnataka, India * Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface, a distributed control s ...

in 1917. Pattie usually accompanied her father on electorate tours until he lost his seat in 1919. Pattie Leckie attended

Fintona Girls' School Fintona Girls' School is a small, independent, non-denominational, day school for girls, located in Balwyn, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1896, Fintona is a non-selective school and currently caters for approximately 600 st ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and during this time saw

, but they were not formally introduced until 1919. After they met, Menzies became a regular visitor at her father's home. On 27 September 1920 they were married at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

in Melbourne. Soon after their marriage, the Menzies bought the house in Howard Street, Kew, which would become their family home for 25 years. They had three surviving children: two sons and a daughter. Another child died at birth. Her father was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1934, serving until 1947. In 1940 he was appointed Minister without portfolio in his son-in-law's ministry, and later Minister for Aircraft Production. Menziesandwife

Honours

In the

1954 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1954 to celebra ...

, Pattie Menzies was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. The official citation read: "In recognition for her years of incessant and unselfish performance of public duty in hospital work, in visiting, addressing and encouraging many thousands of women in every State of Australia, including very remote areas, and in the distinguished representation of Australia on a number of occasions overseas". Her husband was knighted in 1963.

Other

In the 1967

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

challenge, the Australian syndicate headed by Sir

Frank Packer Sir Douglas Frank Hewson Packer (3 December 19061 May 1974), was an Australian media proprietor who controlled Australian Consolidated Press and the Nine Network. He was a patriarch of the Packer family. Early life Frank Packer was born in ...

raced an International

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

racing yacht which was named ''

Dame Pattie ''Dame Pattie'' is an International 12-metre class racing yacht built for the America's Cup challenge series in 1967. She was designed by Warwick Hood and built by W.H. Barnett in New South Wales, Australia. The 1967 challenge cost $2 million a ...

'' in her honour. Sir Robert Menzies died in 1978. In 1992 Dame Pattie moved back to Melbourne from

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

to live with her daughter, Heather Henderson. She was a founding member and first patron of the

Australian Monarchist League The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is a voluntary association that advocates for the retention of Australia's constitutional monarchy. The organisation supported the "No" vote in the 1999 republic referendum, which asked citizens whether t ...

Death

Dame Pattie Menzies died in

on 30 August 1995, aged 96. Her ashes were interred alongside her husband within the 'Prime Ministers Garden' at

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of five Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other ...

. She was survived by her daughter, Heather Henderson, having outlived not only her husband but both of her sons. Then Labor Prime Minister

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

described Dame Pattie, upon her death, as “a very great Australian” and an inspiration to fellow Australians. This is in contrast to Dame Pattie, not long before her death, had described Keating as "a monster" and "a disgrace".

Honours

* Dame Grand Cross of the

Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

1954. *

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver Ju ...

, 1935. *

King George VI Coronation Medal The King George VI Coronation Medal was a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir of King George VI's coronation. It was awarded to th ...

, 1937. *

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

, 1953.

References

Sources

Australia's Prime Ministers – National Archives of Australia
*

External links

Australian Dictionary of Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menzies, Pattie 1899 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Australian people 20th-century Australian women Australian Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Australian monarchists Australian Presbyterians Spouses of prime ministers of Australia Robert Menzies Wives of knights People from Alexandra, Victoria Burials at Melbourne General Cemetery