List of Old Girls of Abbotsleigh explained

This is a List of notable Old Girls of Abbotsleigh, they being notable former students or alumnae of the Anglican Church school, Abbotsleigh in Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia. The alumnae may elect to join the school's alumni association, the Abbotsleigh Old Girls' Union (AOGU).^[1]

Academic

• Kathleen McCredie  - educator; former headmistress of Abbotsleigh^[2]
• Merrilee Roberts  - educator, former principal of Newcastle Girls' Grammar School and Ascham School^[2]
• Elizabeth Ward  - educator, former principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne^[2]
• Freda Whitlam  - lay preacher of the Uniting Church;^[3] Sister of former prime minister Gough Whitlam; former principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Croydon (also attended Canberra Girls' Grammar School)^[4]

Entertainment, media and the arts

• Nicole Alexander  - author
• Edwina Bartholomew  - Sunrise presenter
• Rebecca Baillie  - director, producer and reporter for Australian Broadcasting Corporation^[5]
• Erica Packer  - singer and model; ex-wife of James Packer
• Nell Campbell  - actor; played Colombia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Louise Cox  - Australian architect
• Belinda Bauer  - née Taubman; actor; appeared in 17 US films; played Dr. Juliette Faxx in RoboCop 2
• Linda Cropper  - actress
• Kate Dennis – Emmy-nominated director and producer^[6]
• Kate Forsyth  - author
• Sarah Gardner  - founder of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA)
• Phoebe Victoria Clare Hamilton  - pioneering horticulturalist
• Alexandra Joel  - author
• Janet Laurence  - Australian artist
• Belinda Luscombe  - journalist, editor at large at TIME Magazine
• Belinda Murrell  - author^[7]
• Georgie Parker  - actress^[2]
• Betty Rayner  - created the Australian Children's Theatre in 1948
• Jennifer Rowe  - children's book author under pen name Emily Rodda^[2]
• Helen de Guerry Simpson  - novelist (also attended Kincoppal-Rose Bay)^[8]
• Grace Cossington Smith  - artist^[2]
• Cathy Wilcox  - Australian cartoonist and children's book illustrator
• Linden Wilkinson  - film, television and theatre actress, and writer
• Maggie MacKellar  - Australian historical author.
• Patty Huntington  - Journalist, founder and publisher Frockwriter Media; fashion reporter for South China Morning Post, WWD and Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Medicine and science

• Agnes Bennett  - pioneering medical practitioner and scientist (also attended Sydney Girls High School)^[9]
• Dorothy Rhodes Taylor  - one of the first women employed in the Department of Geography at the University of Sydney. She co-authored The Geographical Laboratory (1925) | https://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE4320b.htm
• Dee Uther  - Physiotherapist; Co-Founder of Lifestart, not for profit organisation assisting families and children with special needs.
• Sally Crossing  - consumer health advocate^[10]
• Kim Taubman  - Specialist Doctor, Radiology; Nuclear Medicine
• Cindy Pan  - doctor, dancer, television personality
• Karen Simmer  - current professor of Newborn Medicine at the University of Western Australia^[11]
• Mary Tindale  - botanist and Australian Botanical Liaison Officer

Politics, public service and the law

• Una Parry Boyce  - Nurse and Community worker. She was state secretary of the War Widows' Guild of Australia (New South Wales) from 1961 until 1989, becoming a life member of the War Widows' Guild in 2000.
• Meredith Burgmann  - politician – Australian Labor Party; former President NSW Legislative Council
• Leela Cejnar  - academic at the University of Sydney
• Pauline Griffin  - former Commissioner of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, chair of the National Committee on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation and former Pro-Chancellor of the Australian National University^[12]
• Gabrielle Kibble  - head of the NSW Planning Authority
• Phyllis Mander-Jones MBE  - librarian, archivist and historian
• Sue Walpole  - former federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner^{[13] [14]}

Activism

• Sally Begbie  - co-founder of Crossroads Foundation^[15]
• Penelope Figgis  - Australian environmentalist, activist, and political scientist
• Beatrice Miles  - Bohemian rebel and political activist^[16]
• Katie Wood  - lawyer, General Counsel at Amnesty International Australia^{[17] [18]}

Sport

• Denise Annetts  - women's cricketer for New South Wales Breakers and Australia whose international playing career ran from 1985 until 1993.
• Phyllis Arnott  - member of the Arnotts biscuit family, first Australian woman to gain a commercial pilot's licence
• Carly Boag  - basketball player
• Hannah Campbell-Pegg  - Australian Luge Winter Olympian
• Jill Coleburn  - Australian biathlete^[19]
• Kiana Elliott  - international weightlifter^[20]
• Sue Fear  - First Australian woman to climb Mount Everest (also attended Barker College)
• Dr Louise Holliday  - Antarctic explorer, first Australian woman to be appointed to Davis Base^[21]
• Margaret Peden  - Cricketer; former captain of the Australian women's cricket team (1934)^[22]
• Astrid Radjenovic  - Australian Bobsled Winter Olympian

Business

• Dr Sally Auld  - chief economist at JP Morgan Australia and New Zealand^[23]
• Tara Commerford  - vice president and managing director of GoDaddy Australia^[24]
• Liz Forsyth  - deputy chairman and partner of KPMG^[25]
• Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz  - CEO of Mirvac^[26]
• Jill Ker Conway  - author, academic and businesswoman, former chair of Lendlease, former director of Colgate-Palmolive, Merrill Lynch and Nike
• Katie Rigg-Smith  - CEO of Mindshare Australia, listed in B&T Magazine's Top Ten Most Influential Women in 2014 and 2015^[27]

See also

• Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools

External links

• Abbotsleigh website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Old Girls' Union - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
2. Web site: Abbotsleigh. New South Wales. School Choice. https://web.archive.org/web/20070830192856/http://www.schoolchoice.com.au/find_a_school?cid=12348&pid=2701591. 30 August 2007. dead. 2007-08-11. dmy.
3. Encyclopedia: Suzannah Pearce. Who's Who in Australia Live!. Whitlam, Freda Leslie. 17 November 2006. Crown Content Pty Ltd. North Melbourne, Vic.
4. Book: McFarlane, John . The Golden Hope: Presbyterian Ladies' College, 1888-1988 . P.L.C Council, Presbyterian Ladies' College Sydney, (Croydon) . 1988 . 0-9597340-1-5.
5. Web site: Rebecca Baillie. 2017-04-21. ABC News. en-AU. 2018-05-18.
6. Web site: Kate Dennis (1983) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
7. Web site: Belinda Murrell (Humphrey, 1981) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
8. Encyclopedia: Roberts. Alan. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Simpson, Helen de Guerry (1897 - 1940). 2007-08-11. Online. 1988. Melbourne University Press . 11. Melbourne, Vic.. 611–612.
9. Encyclopedia: Curthoys. Ann . Australian Dictionary of Biography. Bennett, Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd (1872 - 1960). 2008-01-17. Online. 1979. Melbourne University Press. 7. Melbourne. 265–266.
10. Web site: Moore. Kate. Crossing, Sally. The Encyclopedia of Women & Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Australian Women's Archives Project 2014. 29 October 2014.
11. Web site: Karen Simmer AO (1973) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
12. Web site: Pauline Griffin AM (1942) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
13. Web site: ABBOTSLEIGH School Choice. www.schoolchoice.com.au. en-US. 2018-03-07.
14. Web site: Walpole, Susan (1942-) - People and organisations. Trove. en. 2018-03-07.
15. Web site: Sally Begbie AO (Marr, 1968) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
16. Encyclopedia: 1986. Miles, Beatrice (Bea) (1902 - 1973). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. Melbourne. 2008-01-17. Allen. Judith. Online. 10. 499–500.
17. News: On the job in human rights law. ura.amir. 2017-06-09. GradAustralia. 2018-03-07. en.
18. Web site: Katie Wood. 2014-01-22. ABC News. en-AU. 2018-03-07.
19. Web site: Jill Colebourn (2013) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
20. Web site: Kiana Elliott (2014) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
21. Web site: Middle School facts left - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
22. Encyclopedia: Stell. Marion K.. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Peden, Margaret Elizabeth Maynard (1905 - 1981). 2007-08-11. Online. 1988. Melbourne University Press . 11. Melbourne, Vic.. 192–193.
23. Web site: Dr Sally Auld (1989) - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
24. Web site: AOGU Networking Evening - Abbotsleigh. www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au. en. 2018-03-07.
25. News: CHEAT SHEET: What You Should Know About Sydney's Top Private Schools. Tay. Liz. 2013-10-29. Business Insider Australia. 2018-03-07. en.
26. Web site: Board Members. www.mirvac.com. en. 2018-05-18.
27. News: Katie Rigg-Smith. Mindshare Australia. 2018-03-07. en.