Who was Dame Enid Muriel Lyons?
Q: Who was Dame Enid Muriel Lyons?
A: Dame Enid Muriel Lyons was an Australian politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives and the first woman in the federal Cabinet. She was also the wife of Joseph Lyons, who served as Premier of Tasmania and later Prime Minister of Australia.
Q: Where and when was she born?
A: She was born Enid Muriel Burnell in Smithton, Tasmania on 9 July 1897.
Q: What did her mother do?
A: Her mother was active in the Labor party and community groups in Tasmania, and one of the first women appointed as a Justice of the Peace in Tasmania.
Q: What honours did she receive during her lifetime?
A: She received a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of British Empire (GBE) for Coronation Honours 1937, and a Dame of The Order Of Australia (AD) on Australia Day 1980.
Q: How did she react to Robert Menzies' behaviour towards her husband?
A: She bitterly resented Robert Menzies' behaviour towards her husband, believing he had betrayed him by resigning from Cabinet shortly before his death.
Q: Who became Australia's first female Senator at the same election that Lyons won Darwin Division?
A: Dorothy Tangney became Australia's first female Senator at this election.
Q: What activities did she pursue after retirement?
A: After retirement, she pursued activities such as newspaper column writing (1951-54), being a commissioner for Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1951-62), promoting family issues and women's issues, publishing three volumes memoirs which embarrassed Liberal Party by reviving complaints about Menzies' 1939 behaviour towards her husband, etc.
