Queensland’s First Lady

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31007, 12 March 1966, Page 2

Queensland’s First Lady

A great granddaughter of Queen Victoria paid a brief visit to Christchurch yesterday. She is Lady May Abel Smith, who, with her husband, Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith, GovernorGeneral of Queensland, is on a private visit to New Zealand.

Sir Henry Abel Smith has been Governor-General of Queensland since 1958. During that time, Lady May said, she had come to love Australia, and had gained an insight into all aspects of Australian life. This was inevitable for in addition to her duties as Queensland’s first lady, Lady May is a member of about 60 organisations including the Girl Guides, of which she was

president, the Red Cross, country women’s organisations and many others. Lady May says Australian women are “wonderful” and

compare well with English women. She has a deep admiration for the Country Women’s Institutes, especially for the way in which they help each other and the community. “They have the strength of numbers and if they feel something is not right, they carry enough weight even with Parliament to put things right,” said Lady May. Lady May says that not enough women are coming forward to take their places in local bodies and Parliament. “This is a pity as they run things so very well and they would help so much by giving their ideas in Parliament and in local government.” Sir Henry Abel Smith and Lady May are nearing the end of their term of office and will return to England at the end of March. Lady May is hoping that they will not receive another post as she wants to settle down in the country and get on with breeding Arab horses, working with the Girl Guide movement and take her part in country activities. She has five grandchildren, all of whom were born in England while she and her husband have been in Australia. “I hardly know them and I am looking forward to seeing them,” said Lady May.