Ivy Wedgwood

Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie Wedgwood, DBE (née Drury; 18 October 1896 – 24 July 1975) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1950 to 1971, representing the Liberal Party.

[3] Wedgwood joined the Australian Women's National League (AWNL) in the 1920s, and eventually won election to its federal executive.

[2] Wedgwood was the first married woman to serve in parliament (her colleagues all being either unmarried or widowed), and the media made frequent references to her domestic arrangements – one newspaper reported her retirement with the headline "Ivy is a housewife again".

Noting her retirement, The Herald described her as "one of the shrewdest minds in Canberra over the last two decades", but said that she was "comparatively unknown to the general public because she never grandstanded".

[12] In 1974, Wedgwood was in attendance at the launch of the National Liberal Party, a right-wing splinter group founded by her former colleague George Hannan.

[13] Wedgwood was made a special magistrate of the Children's Court of Victoria in 1945, and the following year was nominated as a justice of the peace.

[3] She was also a long-serving honorary treasurer of the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS), and in retirement served as president of the After-Care Hospital, the organisation's hospice on Victoria Parade.

[2] Wedgwood was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1967 Birthday Honours, for "distinguished services to parliament and the community".