Mary Isobel Downer, Lady Downer (13 December 1924 – 14 October 2014) was
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
n patron, wife of federal MP and high commissioner Sir
Alexander "Alick" Downer, and mother of Liberal Party leader, Australian Foreign Minister and high commissioner
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
.
Early life
Mary Gosse was born on 13 December 1924. She and her four brothers were raised in
Parkside, (an inner suburb of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
) and was educated at
Presbyterian Girls' College (now Seymour College), then a private
Presbyterian Church of Australia
The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA), founded in 1901, is the largest Presbyterian and Reformed denomination in Australia. The PCA is the largest conservative, evangelical and complementarian Christian denomination in Australia. The Presby ...
(now
Uniting Church
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...
) school for girls. Her father, Sir
James Gosse, was a prominent Adelaide businessman and philanthropist, as was her grandfather
Tom Elder Barr Smith
Thomas Elder Barr Smith (8 December 1863 – 26 November 1941)
was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist.
Tom Barr Smith was born in Woodville, South Australia, the son of Robert Barr Smith,
and his wife Joanna Lang, ''née'' Elder ...
. In 1943, during World War Two, at the age of 18, she enlisted in the Army.
She joined the Searchlight Battalion, where she served as a truck driver in
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, subsequently being discharged in March 1943 with the rank of
Gunner. Mary Gosse married
Alick Downer
Sir Alexander Russell "Alick" Downer (7 April 1910 – 30 March 1981) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 1949 and 1963, representing the Liberal Party, and served as Minister for ...
on 23 April 1947 at the Church of the Epiphany in Crafers.
Later years
Downer moved to London with her husband in 1964 as he took up the post of
Australian High Commissioner. She became involved with an Australian expatriate community, establishing the Chicken and Chablis Club, and became Lady Downer in 1965 when her husband was knighted.
Lady Downer was an active patron of the Mary Potter Foundation, from 1994. The foundation works to raise funds to support the work of the Mary Potter Hospice, operated by
Calvary Health Care Adelaide, and to support the development of services to the terminally ill and their families by the Hospice through the provision of additional buildings, facilities, equipment and/or services. She was the primary patron of the
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...
Music Festival in South Australia until its termination in 2005. An article on Lady Downer was featured in the Spring 2008 issue of ''Barossa Living''.
Death
Mary, Lady Downer, died on 14 October 2014, aged 89, in London, while visiting her son Alexander Downer, the incumbent Australian High Commissioner to the UK.
Prime Minister
Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...
paid tribute to her, calling her a "person of substance and style".
Her body was cremated at
Mortlake Crematorium
Mortlake Crematorium is a crematorium in Kew, near its boundary with Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It opened in 1939, next to Mortlake Cemetery.
The crematorium serves the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, ...
in London on 22 October 2014 after a service officiated by the
Dean of Westminster
The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the abbey's status as a royal peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterb ...
.
See also
*
Downer family
The Downer family has played a significant role in the South Australian and Australian political and social sphere since the early days of European settlement. Their earliest ancestors were Mary Ann Downer (1792–1868) and her son Henry Downe ...
References
External links
The Alexander Downer Collection at the University of South Australia Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downer, Mary
1924 births
2014 deaths
Australian people of English descent
Australian Army soldiers
Australian Army personnel of World War II
Women in the Australian military
Australian women in World War II
Downer family
20th-century Australian philanthropists
20th-century Australian women philanthropists