15 Facts About Nancy Buttfield

Dame Nancy Eileen Buttfield, was an Australian Senator and the first woman to serve in the Australian Parliament as a representative of the state of South Australia.

Nancy Buttfield was elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in 1935.

Nancy Buttfield was a school prefect and house captain in her final year.

Nancy Buttfield subsequently attended a finishing school in Paris for a year and then studied psychology, music, logic and economics at the University of Adelaide.

Nancy Buttfield was a member of a predominantly male model parliament, eschewing the women's model parliament.

Nancy Buttfield first entered the Senate on 11 October 1955, having been chosen by the Parliament of South Australia, under Section 15 of the Australian Constitution, to replace Senator George McLeay, who had died the previous month.

Nancy Buttfield was elected in her own right in the 1955 general election.

Nancy Buttfield won the election for casual vacancy and served for the remainder of Pearson's term, due to expire in 1965.

Nancy Buttfield's vacancy was filled by Davidson, who was appointed on 8 February 1962, for the remaining four months of the term.

Nancy Buttfield remained in the Senate until 30 June 1965, having lost her seat at the 1964 Senate election.

Nancy Buttfield was re-elected in 1967, her new term commencing on 1 July 1968.

Nancy Buttfield had two sons with her auctioneer husband Frank Charles Nancy Buttfield, whom she married in 1936.

Nancy Buttfield's son Andrew was an unsuccessful candidate of the Workers Party at the 1975 federal election.

Nancy Buttfield was widowed in 1998 and died in Adelaide on 4 September 2005, aged 92.

Nancy Buttfield was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1972 New Year Honours.