Marcia Maxwell nee Ferrier (1904-1987)

Marcia Maxwell was born in Sydney to teacher John Ferrier and his wife Lizzie. She worked as a clerk after she left school but during World War Two served in the British Merchant Marine Service as a member of the purser’s crew. After the war she was employed as the Australian Red Cross Senior Superintendent in the UK, in charge of the welfare of those servicemen from both wars who were unable to return to Australia. On her return to Australia in 1950, she was appointed Director of Branches, Victorian Division of the Australian Red Cross, a position she held until 1967.

Marcia began work in the newly created position of RHSV Director in April 1967, bringing with her considerable skills as an administrator, a capacity for creating order out of chaos and the ability to create a welcoming atmosphere in an organisation that had been in the doldrums. In March 1969 she married RHSV member Frank Maxwell of Heidelberg and retired from the Director’s role in October 1969. Frank died in August 1970, and around that time Marcia, now honorary secretary, stepped in to help out when her successor as Director became unwell. In February 1971 she accepted the position of Acting Director, retiring for a second time at the end of the following year. She was made an RHSV Fellow in 1979.

Towards the end of the 1970s, Marcia returned to her family home in Sydney and died in March 1987 aged 83.

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