Heather Shakespeare

Heather Shakespeare OAM (25 July 1909 – 28 September 2008) was an important person in the early days of The Canberra Times. She was also a foundation member of the Canberra and District Historical Society.

Early life She was born Heather Gladys Cameron, at Weetangera, a sheep farm near what is now the Canberra suburb of Belconnen. She was one of five children. She had a scholarship to attend Goulburn High School, which paid for her train fare and boarding expenses. She later completing a secretarial course in Canberra. She got her first job with the Queanbeyan Age newspaper, but left to work in a local motor garage. She then worked as a stenographer at the Australian General Electric Company until it closed in 1929, at the beginning of the Great Depression. Heather, aged 19, was then employed as secretary to the Managing Director at the Canberra Times.

In 1997, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).