Elisabeth Murdoch (philanthropist)

[2] Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and English; one of her maternal great-grandfathers, Frederick Forth, was a lieutenant governor in the West Indies.

[7] She was earmarked to succeed to the presidency by her predecessor Ella Latham and oversaw the hospital's move from its Carlton facilities to a new purpose-built campus in Parkville.

Her interests are so many they need to be alphabetically catalogued: academia, the arts, children, flora and fauna, heritage, medical research, social welfare.

Many of Melbourne and Australia's most cherished institutions, from the Royal Children's Hospital to the Australian Ballet and the Botanic Gardens, have benefited from her involvement.

She was the patron of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute[9] and of the Australian American Association (Victoria), founded by her husband.

The first woman on the council of trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria, Murdoch was a founding member of the Victorian Tapestry Workshop.

[11] For her service as president of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Murdoch was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (CBE) in the 1961 Birthday Honours list.

[12] For her role in building a new children's hospital in Melbourne, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (DBE) in the 1963 New Year Honours list.

The image was composed by painter Christopher Pyett, adapted on computer by Normana Wight and woven by Merrill Dumbrell.

Sculpture of Murdoch