Elisabeth Murdoch (senior)
Encyclopedia
Dame Elisabeth Joy Murdoch AC, DBE (born 8 February 1909) is an Australian philanthropist. She is the widow of Australian newspaper publisher
Sir Keith Murdoch
, and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch
. When Keith Murdoch was knighted, in 1933, she was styled Lady Murdoch. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
in 1963 and styled as Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.
, the third daughter of Marie Grace De Lancey (née Forth) and Rupert Greene. Her grandfather, William Henry Greene, was a Scottish
railway engineer who emigrated to Australia and married Fanny, the fourth of the 10 daughters of George Govett. Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and English; Murdoch's great-grandfather was a lieutenant governor in the West Indies. Elisabeth was educated at St Catherine's School
in Toorak
, and at Clyde School
in Woodend. She married Keith Murdoch, 23 years her senior, in 1928 and inherited the bulk of his fortune when he died in 1952.
Apart from Rupert, her children are Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor and Helen Handbury (1929-2004). At the time of a 2003 interview she had 73 descendants. Her namesake granddaughter, Elisabeth Murdoch
, is prominent in the British business world and is married to Matthew Freud
, having previously been married to Elkin Pianim, the son of Ghana
ian financier Kwame Pianim
.
. Before her marriage she worked as a volunteer for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
. She joined the management committee of the Royal Children's Hospital
in 1933, serving as its president from 1954 to 1965.
A 2003 article in the Melbourne newspaper The Age
(see link below) said: "Few can rival Dame Elisabeth's enormous contribution. Her interests are so many they need to be alphabetically catalogued: academia, the arts, children, flora and fauna, heritage, medical research, social welfare. Many of Melbourne and Australia's most cherished institutions, from the Royal Children's Hospital to the Australian Ballet and the Botanic Gardens, have benefited from her involvement. But Dame Elisabeth also devoted herself to less popular causes: prisoners, children in care, those battling mental illness and substance abuse."
Murdoch is known to have disapproved of the behaviour of some of his British tabloid newspapers and, as a result, Rupert is reputed to have reined in some of their sexual content.
Murdoch is a Life Governor of the Royal Women's Hospital
. She is the patron of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
and of the Australian American Association (Victoria), founded by her husband. She is a patron and founding member of disability organisation EW Tipping Foundation
and a founding member of the Deafness Foundation of Victoria. The first woman on the council of trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria
, Dame Elisabeth was a founding member of the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. She is a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria
.
The garden at Murdoch's property, "Cruden Farm" at Langwarrin
near Frankston
(south-east of Melbourne), is one of Australia's finest examples of landscape gardening and is regularly open to the public. It was originally designed by Edna Walling
. Murdoch is a popular figure in the area, where she has donated to many local charities and is known locally as "the Dame".
(AC) and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
. She also holds an award from the French government for funding an exhibition of works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin
in Melbourne in 2002. She is an honorary fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
and helped to establish the Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture and the Australian Garden History Society.
In 1968, Murdoch was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Melbourne
in acknowledgement of her contributions to research, the arts and philanthropy. Trinity College, Melbourne installed her as a Fellow in 2000. Following extensive donations to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, a Tasmanian species of Boronia (B. elisabethiae) was named after her. In 2004 a high school, Langwarrin Secondary College, was renamed Elisabeth Murdoch College
to honour her work in the local community and, in 2010, Geelong Grammar School
completed a new girls' boarding house named in her honour.
In January 2007, aged 97 years and 11 months, she surpassed Dame Alice Chisholm as Australia's longest-lived dame. As of 2011, at age 102, she remains in good health, maintaining a busy schedule of committee meetings and charity functions. This high level of charity work earned her the Victorian of the Year
award in 2005 at the age of 96.
Media proprietor
A media proprietor is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in any media enterprise. Those with significant control of a public company in the mass media may also be called "media moguls", "tycoons", "barons", or "bosses".The figure of the media proprietor...
Sir Keith Murdoch
Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch was an Australian journalist and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the CEO and Chairman of News Corp.-Life and career:Murdoch was born in Melbourne in 1885, the son of Annie and the Rev...
, and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
. When Keith Murdoch was knighted, in 1933, she was styled Lady Murdoch. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1963 and styled as Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.
Family
Murdoch was born as Elisabeth Joy Greene in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, the third daughter of Marie Grace De Lancey (née Forth) and Rupert Greene. Her grandfather, William Henry Greene, was a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
railway engineer who emigrated to Australia and married Fanny, the fourth of the 10 daughters of George Govett. Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and English; Murdoch's great-grandfather was a lieutenant governor in the West Indies. Elisabeth was educated at St Catherine's School
St Catherine's School, Toorak
St Catherine's School is an independent, non-denominational, Christian day and boarding school for girls, located in Toorak, an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
in Toorak
Toorak, Victoria
Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
, and at Clyde School
Clyde School
Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda by Miss Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results.-Clyde School in Woodend:...
in Woodend. She married Keith Murdoch, 23 years her senior, in 1928 and inherited the bulk of his fortune when he died in 1952.
Apart from Rupert, her children are Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor and Helen Handbury (1929-2004). At the time of a 2003 interview she had 73 descendants. Her namesake granddaughter, Elisabeth Murdoch
Elisabeth Murdoch (businesswoman)
Elisabeth Murdoch is an executive in the British television industry and a daughter of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch...
, is prominent in the British business world and is married to Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
, having previously been married to Elkin Pianim, the son of Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian financier Kwame Pianim
Kwame Pianim
A. Kwame Pianim is a celebrated Ghanaian business economist and investment consultant. After ten years as a political prisoner, he made a 1996 bid to run for the presidency of Ghana. Switching gears, he found success as a businessman in Accra.-Family:...
.
Philanthropy
Apart from raising her children, Murdoch has devoted her life to philanthropyPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. Before her marriage she worked as a volunteer for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
. She joined the management committee of the Royal Children's Hospital
Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...
in 1933, serving as its president from 1954 to 1965.
A 2003 article in the Melbourne newspaper The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
(see link below) said: "Few can rival Dame Elisabeth's enormous contribution. Her interests are so many they need to be alphabetically catalogued: academia, the arts, children, flora and fauna, heritage, medical research, social welfare. Many of Melbourne and Australia's most cherished institutions, from the Royal Children's Hospital to the Australian Ballet and the Botanic Gardens, have benefited from her involvement. But Dame Elisabeth also devoted herself to less popular causes: prisoners, children in care, those battling mental illness and substance abuse."
Murdoch is known to have disapproved of the behaviour of some of his British tabloid newspapers and, as a result, Rupert is reputed to have reined in some of their sexual content.
Murdoch is a Life Governor of the Royal Women's Hospital
Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville, is Australia's largest specialist women's hospital, offering a full range of services in maternity, gynaecology, neonatal care and women's health. It also offers complementary services such as social work, physiotherapy and...
. She is the patron of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...
and of the Australian American Association (Victoria), founded by her husband. She is a patron and founding member of disability organisation EW Tipping Foundation
EW Tipping Foundation
The EW Tipping Foundation is a not-for-profit community organisation based in Victoria, Australia.The Foundation provides community capital, infrastructure and services...
and a founding member of the Deafness Foundation of Victoria. The first woman on the council of trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
, Dame Elisabeth was a founding member of the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. She is a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria
Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria
The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria is an Australian charity that was formed by a group of concerned parents in May 1964 to provide support and information to all Victorians affected by epilepsy...
.
The garden at Murdoch's property, "Cruden Farm" at Langwarrin
Langwarrin, Victoria
Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Frankston...
near Frankston
Frankston, Victoria
Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...
(south-east of Melbourne), is one of Australia's finest examples of landscape gardening and is regularly open to the public. It was originally designed by Edna Walling
Edna Walling
Edna Walling was one of Australia's most influential landscape designers.Walling grew up in the village of Bickleigh in Devon, England...
. Murdoch is a popular figure in the area, where she has donated to many local charities and is known locally as "the Dame".
Honours
Murdoch is a Companion of the Order of AustraliaOrder of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AC) and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. She also holds an award from the French government for funding an exhibition of works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
in Melbourne in 2002. She is an honorary fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects is the Australian non-profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of its members and the wider profession of landscape architecture throughout Australia.-AILA Vision Statement:...
and helped to establish the Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture and the Australian Garden History Society.
In 1968, Murdoch was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in acknowledgement of her contributions to research, the arts and philanthropy. Trinity College, Melbourne installed her as a Fellow in 2000. Following extensive donations to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, a Tasmanian species of Boronia (B. elisabethiae) was named after her. In 2004 a high school, Langwarrin Secondary College, was renamed Elisabeth Murdoch College
Langwarrin, Victoria
Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Frankston...
to honour her work in the local community and, in 2010, Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School
Geelong Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located at Corio, on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay....
completed a new girls' boarding house named in her honour.
In January 2007, aged 97 years and 11 months, she surpassed Dame Alice Chisholm as Australia's longest-lived dame. As of 2011, at age 102, she remains in good health, maintaining a busy schedule of committee meetings and charity functions. This high level of charity work earned her the Victorian of the Year
Victorian of the Year
The Victorian of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding Victorian in any given year.This is not to be confused with the Victorian winner of the Australian of the Year awarded in Canberra by the Australia Day Council .The Victorian of the year is awarded in Melbourne by the Victoria Day...
award in 2005 at the age of 96.
External links
- Biography in the Australian Women's Register
- http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s2283021.htmEnough RopeEnough RopeEnough Rope with Andrew Denton is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC Television in Australia...
interview in June 2008] - Ancestry of Rupert Murdoch
- A tapestryTapestryTapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch may be seen here.