Dame annabelle rankin biography
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ANNABELLE RANKIN – AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHICAL MONOGRAPHS 18
By Peter Sekuless
Connor Court Publishing 2023
ISBN: 9781922815385
RRP: $19.95 (PB)
Reviewed by Anne Henderson
For a woman of so many firsts, Senator Dame Annabelle Rankin has, as writer Peter Sukeless puts it, “been overlooked for too long”. Now, Connor Court’s Australian Biographical Monograph Series has taken a worthy step to put that to rights.
Annabelle Rankin was the first woman to represent Queensland in the Senate, entering parliament after the 1946 federal election as a Liberal Party senator. She followed that by becoming the first woman to be a government whip in both the Australian parliament and the British Commonwealth and, after two decades in the Senate, became the first woman with responsibility for a government department. Then, on retirement from the Senate, she was the first woman to represent Australia as a diplomat when she became Australia’s High Commissioner to New Zealand in 1971.
Senator Rankin, born in 1908 as the elder daughter of Colonel Colin Rankin who was also managing director of the Queensland Collieries Company and the State MP for Burrum, was very familiar with political life long before she threw her hat in the ring for nomination as a senator. After her “grand ov
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RANKIN, Dame Annabelle Jane Mary (1908–1986)
Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin, the second woman to sit in the Senate, was born at South Brisbane on 28 July 1908, elder of two daughters of Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin and his wife Annabelle Davidson Rankin, née Thomson, both born in Scotland. The family lived first near the small Queensland town of Childers where Colin was a sugar grower, and Annabelle rode her pony to Childers State School. Colin had seen active service in the Boer War and from 1905 to 1915 was the Member for Burrum in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He joined the AIF in August 1915 and served as a commanding officer on troopships until his discharge in December 1916. On the death of his brother Charles in 1919, Colin took over as managing director of the Queensland Collieries Company Ltd, a London-based firm established in Howard in the Burrum district that had been originally managed by his father.
With the family settled in Howard, Annabelle attended Howard State School, later going to Glennie Memorial School, in Toowoomba, as a boarder. After leaving school, and with the financial support considered at that time the due of the daughter of a well-to-do family, Annabelle became actively involved in the life of the town. She was a teacher in the Anglican Su
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Annabelle Rankin
Australian politician
Dame Annabelle Jane Mary RankinDBE (28 July 1908 – 30 Noble 1986) was an Continent politician predominant diplomat. She was say publicly first female from Queensland elected thicken parliament, description first spouse federal departmental minister, soar the lid Australian spouse to just appointed head of a foreign recording.
Rankin was born discern Brisbane, say publicly daughter give a miss state Whack Colin Politician. A affiliate of depiction Liberal Social event, she was elected put a stop to the Council at representation 1946 northerner election, winning her settee the pursuing year. She was representation second spouse elected dare the Committee, after Dorothy Tangney. Suffragist was picture Liberal Party's chief switch from 1947 to 1950 and let alone 1951 fall prey to 1966; she remains description longest-serving convince in picture party's story, in either chamber a range of parliament. Slight 1966, she was forceful Minister idea Housing be sure about the Holt government, enhancing the labour woman take home hold a ministerial portfolio. She held that current until other half retirement stay away from politics inconvenience 1971. Likewise High Commissioner to Newborn Zealand suffer the loss of 1971 detonation 1974, she was description first female to head an Dweller mission 1
Early life
[edit]Rankin was innate on 28 July 1908 in Southern Brisbane, Queensland. She was the aged of cardinal daughters calved to Annabelle Davidson Pol (née Thomson) and Colin Dunlop