Australian Women's Register

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

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    Group portrait of four "original" WAAAF officers with the Director WAAAF Group Officer Clare Stevenson, c. April 1945, courtesy of Australian War Memorial.
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Blackwood, Margaret (1909 - 1986)

Dame, DBE, MBE

Born
26 April 1909
South Yarra, Victoria, Australia
Died
1986
Occupation
Botanist, Geneticist and Servicewoman

Summary

Margaret Blackwood graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BSc in 1938 and MSc in 1940. During the Second World War she served with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and then was granted an ex-service postgraduate scholarship for Cambridge, where she gained a PhD for her work in plant genetics. In 1951 Blackwood returned to Melbourne and was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne until 1974. She was then elected a member of the University Council and in 1980 became the first female Deputy Chancellor. She held both these positions until her retirement in 1983. She was appointed as a Member of the British Empire in 1964 for work in botany and was appointed a Dame (Order of the British Empire - Dames Commander) for her services to education in 1980.

Details

Events

26 April 1909
Born daughter of Robert Leslie and Muriel Pearl (née Henry) Blackwood
1932 - 1933
Senior science mistress at Lowther Hall CEGGS
1934 - 1938
Senior science mistress at Korowa CEGGS
1938
University of Melbourne demonstrator and Howitt Research Student
1939 - 1941
Demonstrator and Caroline Kay Research Scholarship Plant Cytology and Genetics at the University of Melbourne
15 March 1941
Joined Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) at inception as airwoman
27 March 1941
Commissioned WAAAF
1942
Commanding Officer at No 1 WAAAF Training Depot
1942 - 1944
Officer-in-charge, with rank of Squadran Officer, WAAAF Training
1945
Staff Officer with WAAAF Western Area
January 1946
Discharged from Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force with the rank of Wing Officer
1947 - 1948
Dean of Women, Mildura Branch, Melbourne University
1957 - 1958
Australian Chairman of the Soroptimist International Association
1958 - 1959
Carnegie Scholar for Cambridge University in England
1961 - 1974
Chairman of the Melbourne University Council and Founder Fellow of the Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne
1975 - 1986
Member of the Council of the University of Melbourne

Sources used to compile this entry: Carey, Jane, 'Blackwood, Dame Margaret (1909 - 1986)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A170107b.htm; Draper, W J (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1983, 24 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1983, 960 pp.

Related entries

Related Organisations

Archival resources

Australian War Memorial Research Centre

  • In the outdoors, Yarra Valley, Vic., VIC1314; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Wing Officer Margaret Blackwood (at rear); Director WAAAF; Wing Officer Dorothy Hawthorn (front); Wing Officer Mary Rawlins; Wing Officer Gwen Stark, 1945, VIC0933; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details

The Ian Potter Museum of Art

  • Dame Margaret Blackwood DBE, MBE, c. 1985, 1986.0002; The Ian Potter Museum of Art. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

  • Papers of Dame Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986), 1951 - 1974, 89/50; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
  • Papers of Dame Margaret Blackwood(1909-1986), 1936 - 1986, 88/25; Blackwood, Margaret (1909 - 1986); The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Book Sections

  • Carey, Jane, 'Women and science at the University of Melbourne: reflections on the career of Dame Margaret Blackwood', in Working papers: The University of Melbourne. History of the University Project, vol. 2, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, 1996. Details
  • Falk, Barbara, 'Margaret Blackwood', in Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian women, Women's Redress Press Inc, Broadway, NSW, 1988, pp. 224-225. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • Ross, Caroline, 'A learned start to discovery day', The Sun, 30 June 1983, p. 46. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Draper, W J (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1983, 24 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1983, 960 pp. Details
  • Gillison, Joan M, A History of the Lyceum Club Melbourne, The Lyceum Club, Melbourne, 1975, 118 pp. Details
  • Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, Another time/place [sound recording], Melbourne : National Programme Service. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details
  • Thomson, Joyce A, The WAAAF in Wartime Australia, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., 1992, 422 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
In the outdoors
Type
Image
Date
c. September 1943
Control
VIC1314
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
WAAAF members walking along a country road.
Type
Image
Date
July 1944
Control
P00094.009
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
Group portrait of four "original" WAAAF officers with the Director WAAAF Group Officer Clare Stevenson
Type
Image
Date
c. April 1945
Control
VIC0933
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Anne Heywood

Created: 23 January 2002, Last modified: 5 June 2009

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

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

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0244b.htm