Cold Light (95 page)

Dole, Robert, British, journalist (not to be confused with Robert Dell*), doyen of the international press corps in Geneva before World War II, representative of
Manchester Guardian
, Edith’s first husband.

Drummond*, Sir Eric (1876–1951), British, member of a prominent Catholic family, educated at Eton, entered the Foreign Office and became Secretary-General of the League of Nations, 1919–1932. After retiring from the League, became British ambassador to Italy.

Eden*, Sir Anthony (1867–1977), British, served in World War I, Minister for the League of Nations and Foreign Secretary up to World War II. Champion of collective security and the League of Nations. Prime Minister 1955–1956. Generally ranked among the least successful British prime ministers of the twentieth century.

Eklund*, Dr Sigvard Arne (1911–2000), director of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s security council, 1961–1981.

Emily, resident of Canberra and domestic servant.

Evatt*, Herbert Vere (1894–1965), remarkably brilliant student at Sydney University. Became an outstanding lawyer and Labor politician in New South Wales. At thirty-six, he became the youngest judge appointed to the High Court. In 1940, he resigned from the High Court to return to politics and became Attorney-General in the federal Labor Government. After the death of Ben Chifley, he became Leader of the Opposition. He played a part in the formation of the United Nations and sat on the Security Council. Also elected as the third president of the UN General Assembly (1948). He was an early supporter of atomic energy. After leaving politics, he served as Chief Justice in New South Wales. He suffered a decline in mental health and became increasingly erratic.

Field*, Noel (1904–1970), an American citizen and employee of the United States Department of State in the 1930s. Joined the Disarmament Section of the League in 1937. Worked for the Unitarian Relief organisation in Europe during World War II. Spied for the Soviet Union during the 1930s and 1940s. Defected to Czechoslovakia in 1946. His wife, adopted daughter and he were separately gaoled by the Czech communist government for five years for being American spies. After their release, Field and his wife continued to live in Prague.

Follett, Bernard, Swiss, patron of the arts and owner–manager of the Molly Club, Geneva. Friend of Ambrose and Edith. Part of an organisation that smuggled Jews from Germany during World War II. Supplied intelligence to the Dutch until Holland fell to the Germans. Anonymous delegate for the International Red Cross.

Friedan*, Betty (1921–2006), author of
The Feminine Mystique
(1963), a non-fiction book widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States.

Galbraith*, John Kenneth (1908–2006), Canadian-born economist. A Keynesian and a proponent of twentieth-century political liberalism.

Gerty (no surname), Dutch, Edith’s personal assistant when she was at the League.

Gibson*, Trevor (1910–1988), first appointed town planner of Canberra, 1949–1975.

Gollan*, Bob (1917–2007), joined the Communist Party at Sydney University as a student and was prominent in the Teachers Federation. Took a research post in history at the new Australian National University and left the Communist Party in 1957.

Griffin*, Marion Mahony (1871–1961), one of the first licensed female architects in the world. Considered an original member of the Prairie School of Architecture. Married to Griffin*, Walter Burley.

Griffin*, Walter Burley (1876–1937), American. Together with his wife, Marion Mahony Griffin*, won the 1912 international competition for the planning of Canberra. The Griffins and their winning design generated prolonged and bitter controversies in Australia. In 1920, Griffin formed the Greater Sydney Development Association Ltd to build residential estates on three picturesque headlands on Sydney’s Middle Harbour. The first estate, Castlecrag, designed to retain the character of the natural landscape, was begun in 1921 with several of Griffin’s distinctive houses of rock and concrete, intended to demonstrate the style of house lot-purchasers would be required to build. They were also commissioned to create plans for the towns of Leeton and Griffith.

Gypsy Rose Lee* (1911–1970), American burlesque entertainer, famous for her striptease act. Also an actress, author and playwright, whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film
Gypsy
.

Hall*, Richard Victor (1937–2003), son of a single working-class mother. Became a young Labor Party activist and journalist, then personal private secretary to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, and then to other ministers in the Labor Government. He was a historian and author in the areas of espionage and politics, and also a bon vivant.

Hardy*, Frank (1917–1994), member of the Communist Party of Australia, short story writer and novelist.

Harrison*, Peter (1918–1990), architect, advocate of adherence to Griffin’s design for Canberra. National Capital Development Commission Director and Secretary of the Federal Congress on Regional and Town Planning held in Canberra in 1951.

Hill*, Edward Fowler (1915–1988), Australian communist. He led a split from the Communist Party of Australia to become Chairman of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) and pursued a long and distinguished legal career as one of the best known workers’ compensation lawyers.

Holford*, Sir William (1907–1975), a British architect and town planner appointed by Prime Minister Menzies in the 1950s to advise on the future of Canberra.

Holmes*, Sir Stephen (1922–1980), British High Commissioner, 1952–1956.

Holt*, Harold Edward, CH (1908–1967), Prime Minister of Australia for nearly two years. In December 1967, he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, near Portsea, Victoria. Presumed drowned.

Hughes*, William Morris (1862–1952), known as ‘Billy’. Member of parliament (state and federal) for fifty-eight years. Expelled from three political parties and instrumental in forming three new parties. Became Labor Prime Minister in 1915 at the age of fifty-three. Joined the Liberal Party, which replaced the United Australia Party after World War II, and stayed on in parliament until his death. At his ninetieth birthday party the then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, said Hughes had adorned every political party in the Parliament during a long political lifetime. ‘Not the Country Party,’ Artie Fadden, Leader of the Country Party, interjected. ‘Had to draw the line somewhere,’ the ninety-year-old Hughes riposted.

Ian, no surname, first appears in the Moorhouse novel
Forty-Seventeen
(1988). For a time public servant attached to the Department of External Affairs. Also known as Sean, chemist.

Ingersoll*, Colonel Robert Green (1833–1899), American, lawyer, Attorney-General for the state of Illinois, friend of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, campaigner against religion and for liberal causes. His attack on orthodox Christian beliefs made him a controversial figure for almost thirty years. His writings and beliefs influenced the Rationalists, including Edith’s mother and father.

Inglis*, Amirah (1926–), writer and activist in the Communist Party in Australia, 1945–1961. Born in Brussels of Polish–Jewish parents. Married Ian Turner in 1948 and moved to Canberra with him when he studied at ANU in the early 1960s. After their divorce, she married ANU historian Ken Inglis.

Jeanne, French, Intellectual Cooperation section, friend of Edith at the League.

Karmel*, Peter Henry AC, CBE (1922–2008). Came to Canberra in the late 1940s with his wife, Lena. Australian economist and professor at ANU and Vice-Chancellor (1982–1987). The Peter Karmel Building at the ANU School of Music is named in his honour.

Latham*, John (1877–1964), Australian, conservative politician, one time Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for External Affairs, Federal Attorney-General, several times delegate to League of Nations Assembly. Became Chief Justice of the High Court in 1935, and briefly the first Australian Minister to Japan, 1940–41. First President of the League of Nations Union in Australia. An atheist and Rationalist throughout his life.

Lester*, Sean (1888–1959), Irish, journalist. He was Irish representative to the League of Nations, High Commissioner to Danzig, and third and last Secretary-General of the League, 1940–1946.

Lewis*, Brian Bannatyne (1906–1991), Professor of Architecture at Melbourne University. Designed University House at ANU.

Linnett, Janice, member of the Communist Party of Australia, later a lawyer and office holder in the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist).

Liverright, Howard, Austrian, translator for the League of Nations. Bohemian tastes and habits.

McDowell, T. George, Australian, businessman, childhood friend of Edith. Features in the Moorhouse novels
The Electrical Experience
and
Dark Palace
(1974). Gave eulogy at Edith’s mother’s funeral.

McGeachy*, Mary (1901–1991), Canadian, Information section. First woman appointed to British diplomatic service. Served with UNRRA, following World War II, and then executive officer of International Council of Women.

McLaren*, William Alexander (1898–1973), public servant, head of the Department of Interior, which controlled the development of Canberra into the 1950s.

McPherson*, Aimee Semple (1890–1944), also called Sister Aimee. An American evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s, and founder of the Foursquare Church. McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio. She died of a barbiturate overdose.

Marjoribanks*, James (1911–2003), career diplomat in the British Foreign Service. Seconded to the British Commonwealth Relations Office and posted to Canberra as Official Secretary to the British High Commission, 1950–1952.

Meir*, Golda (1898–1978), teacher and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of Israel in 1969.

Menzies*, Sir Robert Gordon (1894–1978), born at Jeparit, Victoria, fourth of five children of Australian-born parents James Menzies, storekeeper, and his wife, Kate, née Sampson. One of the founders of the Liberal Party. Served as Prime Minister 1950–1962.

Mr T (David Thomas), public servant, Department of the Interior.

Murray-Smith*, Stephen (1922–1988), born and educated in Melbourne, attended Geelong Grammar and the University of Melbourne. Served in New Guinea during World War II, then lived in London and Prague for several years before returning to Australia. Became a Communist Party official in the 1940s and 1950s. Left the Party in 1958 to join Helen Palmer’s Outlook Group (see Palmer*). A historian, public intellectual, environmentalist, and founder/editor of the literary magazine
Overland
. Also a close friend of Ian Turner (see Turner*).

Nicolson*, Harold George (1886–1968), British diplomat and writer, attended Paris Peace Conference, participated in early days of the League, considered for post of first Secretary-General of the League. Led a homosexual life while married to writer and lesbian Vita Sackville-West. Part of the Bloomsbury group.

Nixon*, Richard Milhous (1913–1994), 37th President of the United States, 1969–1974. The only person to be elected twice to both the presidency and vice presidency. Also the only President to resign from office, after being forced out for improper behaviour known as the Watergate Affair.

Ollier*, Rosemarie, second secretary of the French Embassy, Canberra. Former Resistance fighter, suspected of spying for the USSR but cleared.

Oppenheimer*, J. Robert (1904–1967), American nuclear scientist, sometimes called ‘the father of the atomic bomb’.

Overall*, John Wallace (1913–2001), inaugural Commissioner of the National Capital Development Committee and chair of the Planning Committee of Canberra after World War II.

Palmer*, Helen Gwynneth (1917–1979), teacher, younger daughter of the author Edward Vivian (‘Vance’) Palmer and his wife Janet (Nettie) Gertrude, née Higgins. Attended Presbyterian Ladies’ College and won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne (BA Hons, 1939; BEd, 1952). Member of the Communist Party. Following the 20th Congress secret speech and the Soviet invasion of Hungary, she announced her intention to publish material designed to open up discussion on these issues, and was expelled. In mid-1957, she began the publication of
Outlook
, an independent socialist journal, and formed the Outlook Group. With Doreen Jacobs she wrote the song ‘The Ballad of 1891’ about the shearers’ strike, which became popular after its use in the communist play
Reedy River
.

Peters*, Lenrie Leopold Wilfred (1932–2009), Gambian surgeon, novelist and poet.

Phillips*, Morris Mondle (1870–1948), lawyer from an eminent Melbourne family. Active in the League of Nations Union from 1919. President of the Australian Bridge Council; published three books on contract bridge. Non-religious and for a time president of the Rationalist Association of Victoria.

Richard, no surname, widower, public servant in various roles concerning uranium. Third husband of Edith, and father of George and Osborne (two children from his first marriage).

Richter, Amelia, educated Oxford, married to Theodor (see Richter, Theodor).

Richter, Theodor, anthropologist, educated Oxford. Together with his wife, Amelia, left Germany for England before World War II and came to Australia after the war.

Sackville-West*, Vita (1892–1962), an English author (pen name Victoria Mary Sackville-West), poet, social reformer and well-known gardener – she and her husband, Harold Nicolson, created the renowned garden known as Sissinghurst. She was a leading member of the Bloomsbury group and known for her exuberant aristocratic life, her unconventional marriage to Nicolson (they were both bi-sexual) and her passionate affair with novelist Virginia Woolf.

Sharkey*, Lawrence Louis (1898–1967), Australian communist leader. In March 1949 he told a Sydney journalist that if ‘Soviet Forces in pursuit of aggressors entered Australia, Australian workers would welcome them’. He was tried in the Central Criminal Court and found guilty of uttering seditious words. The High Court of Australia upheld his conviction and he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. The term was later reduced and he served thirteen months. On his release, he embarked on a national tour. He then spent six months at a sanatorium in the Soviet Union for treatment of a heart condition. He remained an orthodox Stalinist communist, unswerving in his support for the Soviet Union.