Margaret Edgeworth David McIntyre OBE

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...

(28 November 1886 – 2 September 1948) was the first woman elected to the Parliament of Tasmania

Parliament of Tasmania

The Parliament of Tasmania consists of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Tasmanian House of Assembly and the Monarch represented by the Governor of Tasmania....

 (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...

), representing the seat of Cornwall

Cornwall (Tasmania electorate)

The Electoral division of Cornwall was an electoral division in the Tasmanian Legislative Council of Australia. It was abolished in 1999 after the Legislative Council was reduced from 19 members to 15....

 in the Legislative Council

Tasmanian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...

.

McIntyre was born in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, her parents, Sir Tannatt Edgeworth David

Edgeworth David

Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...

, a geologist and Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 explorer and Caroline Martha David a teacher, had moved to Australia in 1882. She was encouraged to become educated and studied for a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 at the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

, graduating in 1907.

She married Dr. William Keverall McIntyre at St John's Ashfield in 1908, and they moved to Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 where he set up medical practice. The couple had four children.

McIntyre was widely involved in the community, for these services she was awarded an OBE in 1948. Her activities included serving as the State Commissioner for Girl Guides

Guides Australia

Girl Guides Australia is the national Guiding organisation in Australia. It provides a girls only space and its mission is to enable girls and young women to grow into confident, self respecting members of the community. Membership is open to all girls and young women from all cultures, faiths and...

, she served on the board of the Queen Victoria Hospital, the ABC

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 advisory committee, she was the vice-president of the Young Women’s Christian Association

YWCA

The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...

 (YWCA). She was also involved in the establishment of the Brooks Community School in Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

, and ran a youth drama group.

In 1948 she was elected as an independent candidate for the seat of Cornwall, becoming the first women on the Tasmanian Legislative Council. Six months after her election she was killed in a plane crash near Tamworth

Tamworth, New South Wales

Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...

on 2 September 1948, aged 61, returning from a National Council of Women of Australia Conference.