Beryl Elizabeth Ingold

Beryl Elizabeth Ingold (née Watters; 4 March 1927 – 7 April 2011) was an Australian community leader.

Known for her work in the field of agriculture and education, Ingold served in many roles with numerous local and state organisations in New South Wales.

In 1974 she was the first woman in Australia to lead an agricultural organisation when she was elected president of the Agricultural Bureau of New South Wales.

After being named Cootamundra's Citizen of the Year in 1970, Ingold's responsibilities increased further afield as she became involved in various New South Wales organisations.

From 1974 to 1979 she was president of the Agricultural Bureau of New South Wales and was its treasurer from 1979 to 1999. Crispin was later cleared of any wrongdoing, with the tribunal taking only minutes to dismiss the complaint at the conclusion of the three-day hearing.

Honours Ingold was awarded an MBE in the 1980 New Year Honours for her service to agriculture and the community.

In 1981 she was awarded an Australia-New Zealand Foundation scholarship to study agriculture in New Zealand.

She was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for her long and outstanding service to agriculture, education, and the community.

In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ingold was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for "service to the rural community in the areas of regional development and education, particularly recognition of the importance of management training in the agribusiness sector, the development of agricultural industries, and to the welfare of rural women."

Legacy In 2009 one of the new accommodation blocks at the Orange campus of Charles Stuart University was named Ingold House in acknowledgement of her significant contribution to the university.

A plaque was unveiled at Cootamundra Public School in December 2012 in honour of Ingold.

Ingold Street in the Canberra suburb of Coombs was named in her honour and was officially gazetted in 2013.

Personal life and death Ingold married her husband Edward Thomas Ingold in Cootamundra on 7 January 1950.

She died at the age of 84 on 7 April 2011.