Mabel Brookes

Dame Mabel Brookes, DBE (15 June 189030 April 1975) was an Australian community worker, activist, socialite, writer, historian, memoirist and humanitarian. Born Mabel Balcombe Emmerton at Raveloe, South Yarra, Victoria in 1890, her best-known service was as president of the Queen Victoria Hospital from 1923 to 1970, where she presided over the addition of three new wings within ten years.

Early life and marriage Born on 15 June 1890, Brookes was the only child of Melbourne lawyer Harry Emmerton, originally from England, and his wife Alice. After being withdrawn from kindergarten by her mother in order to avoid 'developing a bad accent', She developed a fascination with Saint Helena and Napoleon's exile there. Another ancestor, Sir William Doveton, was a member of the council of Saint Helena when Napoleon was there.

When Mabel was 14, a young man allegedly told her mother that Mabel was 'dull, plain and reads too much', and Old Desires (Australasian Authors Agency, 1922) which were largely set in Egypt, and sparking a lifelong engagement on matters of public health. Mabel Brookes was commandant of the Australian Women's Air Training Corps, and took on shift work at the Maribyrnong Munitions Factory filling cartridges. She fought hard to get suitable accommodation for the hospital, describing 10am on 17 December 1946 as the proudest hour of her life when the last patient was moved from the old hospital on Little Lonsdale Street to the new building on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets. "It was when I realised that the women of Melbourne had finally and decisively won their 55-year-old battle for a large hospital completely staffed by women... It was a fight by women against prejudice, suspicion and intolerance of women," she was quoted in The Argus as saying, "There's no finer feeling than winning the supposedly hopeless battle."

Political career Brookes attempted a political career by standing twice for parliament, but was unsuccessful. She stood for the Division of Flinders in the 1943 federal election as a Woman for Canberra candidate and in the 1952 state election for the seat of Toorak for the Electoral Reform League.

She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1933 in which she recounted events in her life, including meeting many notable and historic people of the time.

She died at South Yarra on 30 April 1975, aged 84, survived by two of her three daughters.

Sir Robert Menzies described her as 'one of the most remarkable women of our time', and that she possessed 'a beautiful organising mind.' On the Knees of the Gods. Melbourne: Melville and Mullin, 1918. Illustrated by Penleigh Boyd. Old Desires. Melbourne: Australasian Authors Agency, 1922. Riders of time / Mabel Brookes; with illustrations by Harold Freedman. 1967.

History St Helena Story. London: Heinemann, 1960. Deals with Napoleon Bonaparte's internment on St Helena island and was introduced by Sir Robert Menzies, former Prime Minister of Australia.

Memoir Crowded Galleries. Melbourne: Heinemann, 1956. With chapters on tennis by Sir Norman Brookes, her husband and 1907 and 1914 winner of the Wimbledon singles and doubles tennis tournament, and America's Davis Cup. Riders of Time. Melbourne: Macmillan, 1967. Memoirs. Melbourne: Macmillan, 1974.

Book collecting She built up a substantial collection of books with a focus on the Elizabethan era and Australiana. In 1959 she joined the Book Collectors Society of Australia and was later elected its president. Her Australiana books were auctioned in 1968, the sale catalogue containing 474 items. Among the highlights were the three volumes of The Mammals of Australia (1845-1863) by John Gould.