Margaret Joan Holmes (née Read; 24 January 1909 – 10 September 2009) was an Australian peace activist, particularly during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and as part of the

Anglican Pacifist Fellowship The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (APF) is a body of people within the Anglican Communion who reject war as a means of solving international disputes, and believe that peace and justice should be sought through nonviolence, nonviolent means. Belief ...

. She founded the New South Wales branch of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

in 1960, and in 2001 was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for her services to the community.

Biography

Margaret Holmes was born into a wealthy Sydney family on 24 January 1909, the eldest of five children, and grew up in Wahroonga. Her parents were

Irene Victoria Read Irene Victoria Read born Irene Victoria Phillips (29 August 1880 – 27 August 1972) was an Australian charity and community worker. She was President of Sydney's Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children from 1930 to 1950. Life Read was ...

and Dr William Henry Read. Her mother volunteered her life for good causes and she had met her husband while both of them were workers at the

Sydney Medical Mission Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Her father had served in Egypt and her mother was a strong supporter of Australia conscripting men to fight in the first world war. Holmes attended

The Women's College, University of Sydney The Women's College is a residential college within the University of Sydney, in the suburb of Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was opened in 1892. The Women's College is one of two all-female residential colleges at The Uni ...

, where she was the first female student to have a car, and studied medicine. While at university, Holmes became involved with the Christian Student Movement and identified with

Christian pacifism Christian pacifism is the Christian theology, theological and Christian ethics, ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is inco ...

. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science and in 1933 married a doctor, T. A. G. (Tag) Holmes, instead of becoming one. Margaret and Tag Holmes built a home in Military Road, Mosman, a suburb on Sydney's Lower North Shore, where T. A. G. Holmes had his medical practice and they raised six children. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Holmeses established the "50-50 Club", a weekly social evening where "new Australians" could get to know the locals and better integrate into their new society. In 1959, Holmes made a trip to attend the congress of the

in Stockholm; she had come to know of this women's peace organisation in 1940 through articles in ''The Peacemaker'' written by Eleanor Moore. As there was no Sydney branch of WILPF at that time, she joined as an international member. She founded the NSW Branch when she returned from the congress. Her trip included travelling to Austria for an IFOR conference, to Russia (where she delivered smuggled bibles to the Moscow Baptist Church) and to India (at the invitation of Sushila Nayar, whom she had met at the WILPF congress). In the 1960s during the Vietnam War, Holmes' activism became most public. She led demonstrations including the walk-out and was a regular campaigner in downtown Sydney, participating in prayer vigils, candlelight vigils, public meetings and

leaflet distribution A flyer (or flier) is a form of paper advertisement intended for wide distribution and typically posted or distributed in a public place, handed out to individuals or sent through the mail. Today, flyers range from inexpensively photocopied lea ...

. During this time she also became active in campaigning for Aboriginal rights and nuclear disarmament. Her biography, ''Margaret Holmes: The Life and Times of an Australian Peace Campaigner'', written by Michelle Cavanagh, was published in 2006. Her life has also been documented in various oral histories and other material, some of which is held by the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

Honours

In 2001, Holmes was made a Member of the

at the Queen's Birthday Honours, "for service to the community through organisations promoting peace, human rights and conflict resolution, particularly as a member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom".

Death

Holmes celebrated her 100th birthday on 24 January 2009 at her home in Sydney, with her six children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She died on 10 September 2009 in Coffs Harbour, Australia.

Biography

Honours

Death

See also

References

Further reading