(1897-07-09)9 July 1897 Smithton, Tasmania, Australia
Died
2 September 1981(1981-09-02) (aged 84) Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia
Resting place
Mersey Vale Memorial Park, Quoiba
Political party
Labor (until 1931) UAP (1931–1945) Liberal (after 1945)
Spouse
Joseph Lyons
(m. 1915–1939)
Children
12, inc. Brendan and Kevin
Occupation
Teacher
Dame Enid Muriel LyonsAD, GBE (née Burnell; 9 July 1897 – 2 September 1981) was an Australian politician. She was notable as the being the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives and to serve in the federal cabinet. Prior to her own political career, she was best known as the wife of Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1932 to 1939, who served previously as Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.
Lyons was born in Smithton, Tasmania. She grew up in various small towns in northern Tasmania, and trained as a schoolteacher. At the age of 17, she married politician Joseph Lyons, who was almost 18 years her senior. They would have twelve children together, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. As her husband's career progressed, Lyons began assisting him in campaigning and developed a reputation as a talented public speaker. In 1925, she became one of the first two women to stand for the Labor Party at a Tasmanian state election. She followed her husband into the new United Australia Party (UAP) following the Labor split of 1931.
After her husband became prime minister in 1932, Lyons began living at The Lodge in Canberra. She was one of the best-known prime minister's wives, writing newspaper articles, making radio broadcasts, and giving open-air speeches. Her husband's sudden death in office in 1939 came as a great shock, and she withdrew from public life for a time. At the 1943 federal election, Lyons successfully stood for the UAP in the Division of Darwin. She and Senator (Dame) Dorothy Tangney became the first two women elected to federal parliament. Lyons joined the new Liberal Party in 1945, and served as Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Menzies Government from 1949 to 1951 – the first woman in cabinet. She retired from parliament after three terms, but remained involved in public life as a board member of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (1951–1962) and as a social commentator.
Dame Enid Muriel Lyons AD, GBE (née Burnell; 9 July 1897 – 2 September 1981) was an Australian politician. She was notable as the being the first woman...
Several years after his death, his widow EnidLyons became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. Lyons was born in Stanley, Tasmania, on 15...
jointly honours Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia 1932–39, Member for Wilmot from 1929–39, and his wife Dame EnidLyons, the first woman elected...
The Statues of Dorothy Tangney and EnidLyons are located near Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. The bronze statues honour the women's contributions...
1918, aged nine, when he served as a page boy to EnidLyons in a queen carnival. In her memoirs, Lyons recalled Flynn as "a dashing figure—a handsome boy...
election; EnidLyons simultaneously became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. Tangney was sworn in six minutes before Lyons. Tangney...
prime ministers' spouses have held public office in their own right – EnidLyons became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives several...
The Lyons government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. It was made up of members of the United Australia...
the House of Representatives from 1946 to 1949, the second woman after EnidLyons to do so. Blackburn was a prominent socialist and originally a member...
colourful Labor member, Sir George Bell, Speaker of the House, and Dame EnidLyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives. "House of Assembly...
Gordon Jackson Angus Houston https://www.adoptapet.com.au/pet/804659 EnidLyons "Chris Devine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2014...
conservative alliance in 1931, with Labor defector Joseph Lyons as its leader. The stance of Lyons and other Labor rebels against the more radical proposals...
Australia; 1978 Anne Henderson; Joseph Lyons: The People's Prime Minister; NewSouth; 2011. "EnidLyons – Joseph Lyons – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime...
was the son of Joseph Lyons (who would go on to become Premier of Tasmania and later Prime Minister of Australia) and EnidLyons (who would become the...
predecessor to the modern Liberal Party of Australia. His wife, Dame EnidLyons, a Catholic convert, became the first female member of the Australian...
of the first female member of the House of Representatives, the UAP's EnidLyons for Darwin, Tasmania, and the first female Senator, Labor's Dorothy Tangney...
Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, and her great-grandmother was Dame EnidLyons, who was the first woman in the Australian parliament...
mother Enid, and brother Kevin preceded him in politics. Lyons was born on 17 June 1927 in Hobart, Tasmania, the eighth of twelve children born to Enid (Burnell)...
surrounded the campaign against the Franklin Dam in the early 1980s. Tasmanian EnidLyons became the first female member of the House of Representatives at the...
(1977), Sir Macfarlane Burnet (1978), Dame Alexandra Hasluck (1978), Dame EnidLyons (1980), Charles, Prince of Wales (as he then was) (1981), Sir Roden Cutler...
Liberal member for Darwin, succeeding the retiring Liberal member Dame EnidLyons. He held the seat until its abolition in 1955, when he successfully contested...
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