31 Facts About Annabelle Rankin

Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin was an Australian politician and diplomat.

Annabelle Rankin was the first woman from Queensland elected to parliament, the first woman federal departmental minister, and the first Australian woman to be appointed head of a foreign mission.

Annabelle Rankin was the second woman elected to the Senate, after Dorothy Tangney.

Annabelle Rankin was the Liberal Party's chief whip from 1947 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1966; she remains the longest-serving whip in the party's history, in either chamber of parliament.

Annabelle Rankin held that position until her retirement from politics in 1971.

Annabelle Rankin was born on 28 July 1908 in South Brisbane, Queensland.

Annabelle Rankin was the older of two daughters born to Annabelle Davidson Rankin and Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin.

Annabelle Rankin's father, born in Scotland, was a sugar grower and Boer War veteran who served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Annabelle Rankin grew up on her father's sugarcane farm on the Isis River near the small town of Childers.

Annabelle Rankin attended the local state schools in Childers and Howard before completing her education as a boarder at the Glennie Memorial School in Toowoomba.

Annabelle Rankin involved herself in various community organisations, teaching Sunday school and founding a local unit of the Girl Guides.

Annabelle Rankin was encouraged by her father to travel overseas, visiting China and Japan soon after leaving school.

Annabelle Rankin visited Europe in 1936, working in the slums of London and with refugees from the Spanish Civil War; while in Gibraltar she witnessed the bombing of La Linea de la Concepcion.

Annabelle Rankin was the commandant of a Brisbane-based Voluntary Aid Detachment during the war.

Annabelle Rankin was state secretary of the Girl Guides in 1942 and assistant state commissioner of the Young Women's Christian Association the following year.

Annabelle Rankin was responsible for the organisation's work around the welfare of servicewomen, in which capacity she travelled to military bases in North Queensland.

In July 1946, Annabelle Rankin won preselection for the Senate on the ticket of the Queensland People's Party, the contemporary state affiliate of the Liberal Party.

Annabelle Rankin's selection ended the political career of Senate veteran Harry Foll.

Annabelle Rankin was the first Queensland woman elected to federal parliament, the second woman elected to the Senate after Dorothy Tangney, and the second woman from the Liberal Party elected to federal parliament after Enid Lyons.

Annabelle Rankin became the Opposition Whip, the first woman to serve as a whip in federal parliament.

Annabelle Rankin was a prominent member of the Australian Women's Movement Against Socialisation, formed by Millicent Preston-Stanley to oppose the Chifley government's proposed nationalisation of the banks.

Annabelle Rankin was the second woman to reach ministerial rank in the Federal Parliament.

Annabelle Rankin resigned from the Senate in 1971 and was made High Commissioner to New Zealand, a post she held to 1974.

Annabelle Rankin is the only woman to be Mother of the Senate, an informal title given to the senator with the longest continuous service.

Annabelle Rankin held the title from 1968 to her retirement in 1971, together with Fathers of the Senate Justin O'Byrne and Bert Hendrickson.

Annabelle Rankin died in Brisbane aged 78, on 30 August 1986.

Annabelle Rankin was cremated following a State funeral at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane.

Annabelle Rankin was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1957 for political and public services.

In 1977 Annabelle Rankin was made a Life Member of the Queensland Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia.

The Electoral Division of Annabelle Rankin, which came into effect at the 1984 election, is named in her honour.

The Dame Annabelle Rankin Award was inaugurated by the Queensland Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia in her memory.