Hilda Stevenson
Encyclopedia
Dame
Hilda Stevenson, DBE (1893—1987) was an Australia
n philanthropist and community worker.
, her father was Hugh Victor McKay, the inventor of the combined harvester. She attended Clarendon College and Presbyterian Ladies College. Her first marriage was in 1916 to Cleveland James Kidd. Kidd died in 1923. In 1936 she remarried, to Colonel George Ingram Stevenson. She had one child, a daughter, by her second marriage.
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...
Hilda Stevenson, DBE (1893—1987) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n philanthropist and community worker.
Personal life/early years
Born as Hilda Mabel McKay in Ballarat, VictoriaBallarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, her father was Hugh Victor McKay, the inventor of the combined harvester. She attended Clarendon College and Presbyterian Ladies College. Her first marriage was in 1916 to Cleveland James Kidd. Kidd died in 1923. In 1936 she remarried, to Colonel George Ingram Stevenson. She had one child, a daughter, by her second marriage.
Philanthropy
- Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne - she donated £100,000 in 1958 for the establishment of a Chair of Paediatrics at the hospital, to be administered by the University of Melbourne
- Florey Laboratories (University of Melbourne programme)
- International House (University of Melbourne programme)
- Sunshine Foundation, founder/trustee
- Victorian Arts Centre
Honours/awards
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 31 December 1960
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire 8 June 1963
- Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 1 January 1968
- Honorary doctorate of laws by the University of Melbourne, 1973
External links
Archival resources
- University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections Papers, 24 March 1980—19 November 1980, 81/110; The University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library Special Collections.