Gertrude Denman, Baroness Denman

Gertrude Mary Denman, Baroness Denman, GBE (7 November 1884 - 2 June 1954) was a British woman active in women's rights issues including the promotion of Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She was also the wife of the 3rd Baron Denman, fifth Governor-General of Australia, and she officially named Australia's capital city Canberra in 1913.

Gertrude Mary Pearson was born into a wealthy family. Her father was Weetman Pearson (later Viscount Cowdray), an oil magnate and newspaper baron. She was a member of numerous committees along with her mother, including the Women's Liberal Federation which supported women's suffrage.

In 1903 she married, and in 1911 when her husband was appointed Governor-General of Australia, she and her two small children went with him to Australia. The Lady Denman Ferry was named in her honour in 1911 and was used on Sydney Harbour until 1979. It is now the primary attraction at the Lady Denman Museum in Huskisson, New South Wales. On 12 March 1913 she officially named the new seat of government Canberra. The date is now celebrated as "Canberra Day".

They returned to Britain in 1914, as World War I was about to start. She was involved in many women's organisations, including serving as President of the Women's Section of the Poultry Association. In 1917 she became the first President of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, a post she held until 1946. She was also the first Chairman of the Family Planning Association, President of the Ladies Golf Union, a Trustee of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, and a Director of the Westminster Press.

During World War II she was Director of the Women's Land Army. Following the war she was made a Dame Grand Cross (GBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1951. This entitled her to be known as Dame Gertrude Denman; however, as the wife of a peer, her existing title Lady Denman subsumed this. She died three years later, on 2 June 1954. Her husband died 22 days later, on 24 June.

Lady Denman Drive, a major arterial road in Canberra, was named in her honour.

References

*National Federation of Women's Institutes (see [http://www.womens-institute.org.uk/archive/ladydenman.shtml] )