Roma Mitchell

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox governor Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell, Template:Postnominals (2 October 1913 – 5 March 2000)<ref name=rulers>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was an Australian lawyer, judge and state governor. She was the first woman to hold a number of positions in Australia – the country's first woman judge, the first woman to be a Queen's Counsel, a chancellor of an Australian university and the Governor of an Australian state.

Dame Roma was considered to be a pioneer of the Australian women's rights movement. Her grandfather, Samuel James Mitchell, was the first Chief Justice of the Northern Territory.

Early life and educationEdit

Mitchell was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 2 October 1913, the second daughter and youngest child of Harold and Maude Mitchell (née Wickham). She was an alumna of St Aloysius Convent College, Adelaide and the University of Adelaide.<ref>Template:Cite journal; M. Press, Some women in the Australian Church, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 30 (2009), 33–38.</ref>

CareerEdit

Mitchell was admitted as a barrister in 1935. In 1962, she was appointed a Queen's Counsel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As well as a practicing barrister, she was a lecturer in family law at the University of Adelaide and Margaret Nyland was one of her students, with Dame Roma becoming a mentor to her.<ref name="AWL Nyland">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On the recommendation of Don Dunstan, South Australia's 38th Attorney-General, <ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Dame Roma was made the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia in 1965. She was still the only female judge in South Australia when she retired 18 years later in 1983, although Justices Elizabeth Evatt and Mary Gaudron had been appointed to Federal courts by the Whitlam government. It was not until 1993 that the second woman was appointed to the court, Dame Roma's former student Margaret Nyland.<ref name="AWL Nyland"/>

Mitchell was Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1983 to 1990, a member of the Council for the Order of Australia from 1981 to 1990, and Governor of South Australia from 1991 to 1996.

Honours and legacyEdit

File:Dame roma mitchell.jpg

Statue of Mitchell on North Terrace, Adelaide

Mitchell was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 12 June 1971.<ref>Template:Cite It's an Honour</ref> She was raised to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on 12 June 1982.<ref>Template:Cite It's an Honour</ref>

On 26 January 1991, Mitchell was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, for services to the law, to learning, and to the community.<ref>Template:Cite It's an Honour</ref> She was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) on 1 January 2000. Mitchell was to receive her honour directly from The Queen of Australia, however, as her health deteriorated, the Governor-General, Sir William Deane, flew to Adelaide and attended her bedside to bestow the honour in a private investiture.<ref name="The Age">Template:Cite news</ref> She was posthumously inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Roma Mitchell Secondary College in northern Adelaide was named for Mitchell, as was Roma Mitchell House, on North Terrace, Adelaide. One of the Bay class patrol boats operated by the Australian Customs is named ACV Dame Roma Mitchell. A statue of Dame Roma, in Prince Henry Gardens, directly outside Government House, Adelaide, was erected in 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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