The Australian Women's Register

Summary

Gwendolyn Adams was widely regarded as a role model and mentor for women in agriculture. She was a leader of the Tasmanian Women in Agriculture Movement and had a special interest in assisting women on the land who had been widowed. She was a Regional Winner (Tasmania) of the ABC Rural Woman of the Year Award in 1995.

Gwendolyn began her career in agriculture in 1969 when she took over the running of the family property ‘Leighlands’ near Perth in northern Tasmania. She and her husband successfully built the business and became advocates of environmental management while doing so. She endeavoured to plant 1000 trees a year for over two decades.

She was an advocate for agriculture and landcare through a range of community and industry groups, including the Tasmanian Landcare Association, Tasmanian Women in Agriculture, Greening Australia, and the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Wool Council. In 1998, she received a bursary to attend the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture in Washington D.C. In 2000, she was a member of the committee for the Fourth Women on Farms Gathering held at Poatina.

Events

• 1995

  Nominated for ABC Rural Woman of the Year In Tasmania

• 2005

  Induction – Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women for services to agriculture and the environment

• 2006

  Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the agricultural sector in Tasmania