‘The best P.M. for the empire in war'?*: Lady Helen Munro Ferguson and the Australian Red Cross Society, 1914–1920

Abstract

This article examines the role and relationship of Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, wife of Australia's fifth Governor General, and the Australian Red Cross during a period of unprecedented social, economic and political upheaval in Australian history. It argues that Lady Helen brought with her to Australia special qualities and experiences which were to benefit the Red Cross, an organisation she established and ran during the Great War. The activities of Lady Helen also gave an imperial cast to some important aspects of federal development in Australia.