Mary Downer
Encyclopedia
Mary Downer, Lady Downer (born 13 December 1924) is a prominent South Australia
n patron, wife of deceased MP and high commissioner Sir Alexander Downer and mother of former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
.
Lady Downer was educated at Seymour College
, a private Uniting Church girls school in Adelaide
, where she was raised along with her four brothers. Her father Sir James Gosse was a prominent Adelaide businessman and philanthropist as was her grandfather Robert Barr Smith
. At the age of 18, in the thick of World War II Lady Downer, like her brothers before her, joined the army. Enlisted in the Searchlight Battalion in Western Australia she served as a truck driver.
Lady Downer moved to London with her husband in 1964 as he took up the post of Australian High Commissioner. Here she became involved in an Australian expatriate community establishing the Chicken and Chablis Club which remains active today.
Lady Downer has been an active patron of the Mary Potter Foundation since 1994 . The Mary Potter Foundation works to raise funds to support the work of the Mary Potter Hospice operated by Calvary Health Care Adelaide and to support the development of services to the terminally ill and their families by the Mary Potter Hospice through the provision of additional buildings, facilities, equipment and/or services.
Lady Downer was the primary patron of the Barossa Valley
Music Festival in South Australia until its termination in 2005.
An article on Lady Downer was featured in the Spring 2008 issue of Barossa Living. http://www.barossaliving.com.au/
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n patron, wife of deceased MP and high commissioner Sir Alexander Downer and mother of former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history...
.
Lady Downer was educated at Seymour College
Seymour College
Seymour College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school predominantly for girls', located at Glen Osmond, a suburb 5 km from the Central Business District of Adelaide, South Australia....
, a private Uniting Church girls school in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, where she was raised along with her four brothers. Her father Sir James Gosse was a prominent Adelaide businessman and philanthropist as was her grandfather Robert Barr Smith
Robert Barr Smith
Robert Barr Smith was an Australian businessman and philanthropist.Smith was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of the Rev...
. At the age of 18, in the thick of World War II Lady Downer, like her brothers before her, joined the army. Enlisted in the Searchlight Battalion in Western Australia she served as a truck driver.
Lady Downer moved to London with her husband in 1964 as he took up the post of Australian High Commissioner. Here she became involved in an Australian expatriate community establishing the Chicken and Chablis Club which remains active today.
Lady Downer has been an active patron of the Mary Potter Foundation since 1994 . The Mary Potter Foundation works to raise funds to support the work of the Mary Potter Hospice operated by Calvary Health Care Adelaide and to support the development of services to the terminally ill and their families by the Mary Potter Hospice through the provision of additional buildings, facilities, equipment and/or services.
Lady Downer was the primary patron of the Barossa Valley
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley is a major wine-producing region and tourist destination of South Australia, located 60 km northeast of Adelaide. It is the valley formed by the North Para River, and the Barossa Valley Way is the main road through the valley, connecting the main towns on the valley floor of...
Music Festival in South Australia until its termination in 2005.
An article on Lady Downer was featured in the Spring 2008 issue of Barossa Living. http://www.barossaliving.com.au/