Australian Women's Register

An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne

Skip to content

By Repository

Interview with Dame Pattie Menzies (sound recording), interviewer: Heather Rusden

Title
Interview with Dame Pattie Menzies (sound recording), interviewer: Heather Rusden
Repository
National Library of Australia
Reference
ORAL TRC 2574
Date Range
8 May 1990
Description

1 digital audio tape, 90 minutes, and 41 page transcript. Dame Pattie talks about her family background; meeting Sir Robert Menzies and her views on her role as wife to the Prime Minister. She then talks about her wartime involvement with the Women's Hospital in Melbourne and as President of the Auxiliaries and President of the Welfare Unit. Dame Pattie then discusses entertaining at the Lodge and difficulties in its running as well as security problems and their effect on the family. She then talks about travelling overseas; friendship with Sir Winston Churchill and his family and her memories of early Canberra. Dame Pattie then discusses her public speaking as well as that of her husband and crowd reactions. She then decribes Walmer Castle near Dover where she and Sir Robert lived for a few months each year while Sir Robert was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

Access
Open

Related entries

Women

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/archives/AWH000811.htm

The Australian Women's Register is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License