List of Old Girls of Abbotsleigh

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]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

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 AM – 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 AO – Australian architect[2]
• 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[2]
• Belinda Luscombe – journalist, editor at large at TIME Magazine
• Belinda Murrell – author[7]
• Georgie Parker – actress[2]
• Jennifer Rowe AC – children's book author under pen name Emily Rodda[2]
• Helen de Guerry Simpson – novelist (also attended Kincoppal-Rose Bay)[8]
• Grace Cossington Smith AO, OBE – artist[2]
• Cathy Wilcox – Australian cartoonist and children's book illustrator
• 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 OBE – 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 AM – consumer health advocate[10]
• Kim Taubman – Specialist Doctor, Radiology; Nuclear Medicine
• Cindy Pan – doctor, dancer, television personality
• Karen Simmer AO – 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 – AM OBE 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, senior law lecturer at Australian Catholic University
• Pauline Griffin AM – 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 AO – head of the NSW Planning Authority[13]
• Sue Walpole – former federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner[13][14]

Activism

• Sally Begbie AO – co-founder of Crossroads Foundation[15]
• Penelope Figgis AO – Australian environmentalist, activist, and political scientist[2]
• 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[19]
• Hannah Campbell-Pegg – Australian Luge Winter Olympian
• Jill Coleburn – Australian biathlete[20]
• Kiana Elliott – international weightlifter[21]
• 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[19]
• 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 J.P. 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 AC – author, academic and businesswoman; past director and chairman, Lend Lease Group; director, Colgate-Palmolive and Nike; past director, Merrill Lynch[2]
• 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

References

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

External links

• Abbotsleigh website