Ivy Brookes (1883-1970)

 Early HSV member. Community activist.

Ivy Brookes was a member of the National Council of Women’s Centenary Committee when she joined the HSV in 1934. Several other Historical Society women were on that committee and are also featured in this Biographical Dictionary. Their membership of both groups provides an important link between the influential NCW and the Historical Society.

The eldest daughter of Australia’s second Prime Minister Alfred Deakin and his wife Pattie and the wife of businessman and philanthropist Herbert Brookes, Ivy had many cultural, philanthropic and political interests. A talented musician, she and her husband supported a number of musical bodies. From an early age she was involved in politics. She served also on many boards and committees and was a member of the Victorian section of the League of Nations Union and the vice president of the later United Nations Association of Victoria. Her activities often reflected her concern for the welfare of women and their families and she was founding president of the Housewives’ Association of Victoria and a long-time president of the Women’s Hospital Board.

Her activism played out most obviously in the National Council of Women (NCW) which she joined in 1912. She became increasingly involved during the 1930s and 40s, as vice president then president of the Victorian branch, as a delegate to overseas conferences and to the national organisation, of which she was President from 1948 to 1952. She was also vice president of the International Council of Women during this period.

From a family steeped in the importance of community service, Ivy  Brookes’ inspiring activism was honoured in 2001 when she was included on the first Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

Kaleidoscope exhibition text by Cheryl Griffin, February 2022. Full entry to follow.