• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0427

Calvert-Jones, Elisabeth (Janet)

  • AM
  • Maiden name Murdoch, Janet
(1939 – )
  • Born 1939, Melbourne Victoria Australia
  • Occupation Businesswoman, Philanthropist

Summary

The youngest child of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Sir Keith Murdoch, Janet Calvert-Jones follows the family tradition, established by both of her parents, of being involved in business as well as philanthropy.

Details

Like her mother and older sisters, Janet was educated at Clyde School (Woodend, Victoria). While travelling abroad she met stockbroker John Calvert-Jones and the pair were married on February 3rd, 1962. They were to have three sons and a daughter.

Following the birth of her son, Robert, who suffered from impaired hearing, Janet Calvert-Jones co-founded the Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing, and served as its Chairman from 1973 to 1995. The board established ‘Taralye’, an early intervention centre for hearing-impaired children, in Blackburn, Victoria. Since 1988 Janet has also been a Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, of which her mother was Patron.

In 1989, Janet Calvert-Jones became chairman of The Herald and Weekly Times Limited, the same company her father ran from 1929 to 1952. She is also a member of the State Library of Victoria Foundation Business sub-committee.

In recognition of her charitable work, Janet was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 8 June 1998. On 26 January 2006, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the community through philanthropy and support for medical research, access to education in rural areas, development of significant cultural and botanical collections, and to the print media.

Read

Published resources

  • Edited Book
    • Who's Who in Australia 2002, Herd, Margaret, 2002
  • Book Section
    • A Winning streak: The Murdochs, Browning, Julie, 2002
  • Resource

Archival resources

  • National Library of Australia
    • [Biographical cuttings on Janet Calvert-Jones, chairman of the Advisory Council for Children, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]

Related entries


  • Mother
    • Murdoch, Elisabeth Joy (1909 - 2012)
  • Membership
    • Alexandra Club (1903 - )