Millie Gertrude Peacock, Lady Peacock (née

Married and maiden names

A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....

 Holden; 3 August 1870 – 7 February 1948) was the first woman elected to the Parliament of Victoria

Parliament of Victoria

The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of The Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria; the Legislative Council ; and the Legislative Assembly...

.

Early life

Holden was born and raised in Port Fairy

Port Fairy, Victoria

Port Fairy is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and 290 km west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the Southern Ocean.-History:...

, where her father was an auctioneer. She was educated at Methodist Ladies' College

Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne

Methodist Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

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...

. In 1901 she married Alexander Peacock

Alexander Peacock

Sir Alexander James Peacock, KCMG , Australian politician, was the 20th Premier of Victoria.Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born after the gold rush of the 1850s and the attainment of self-government in Victoria. He was distantly related to the family...

, who was then the Premier of Victoria: they had no children. She was involved with the Red Cross for 26 years from 1914 and with numerous other charities.

Parliament

Following Sir Alexander Peacock's death in 1933, Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

 encouraged Lady Peacock to stand in the by-election for her husband's seat of Allandale. She did so reluctantly and during her campaign she was in mourning from her husband's death and made no speeches. She was elected and was sworn in as the first woman member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

on 21 November 1933. She retired from politics at the end of her term in 1935, saying that "Parliament is no place for a woman."