Australians and their Achievements: Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Bill Woodfull

William "Bill" Maldon Woodfull (1897-1965) captained the Australian cricket team against England in the famed bodyline series of 1932-33 when both nations nearly came to cancelling diplomatic relations. Bill was a mathematics teacher and became Headmaster of Melbourne High School. He was asked to captain the Australian side to England for the 1934 tour as more of a goodwill tour after the tumultuous bodyline series, which he accepted reluctantly. It was while on this tour that he was offered a knighthood for services to cricket. He turned the offer down as he would have accepted the offer if it had of been for services to education which he considered more important than cricket.
Don Bradman(1980-2001) is considered the greatest batsman internationally to have ever graced a cricket field. He was the first Australian cricketer to be knighted in 1949. He was a national hero during the Depression era of the 1930s and his test career spanned 1928-1948. He finished his career with a batting average of 99,94 which is still to this day over 30,00 runs ahead of number two.

Richie Benaud (1930-2015) is considered one of Australia's greatest test captains. Not only did he have a distinguished playing career but post cricket he became one of the best commentstors on radio and television on his sport.
Warwick Armstrong ((1879-1947) captained Australia in 10 test matches between 1920-21. He captained the first Australian Team to whitewash England 5-0 in 1920-21. The next whitewash against England occurred in 2006-7 lead by Ricky Ponting. Warwick Armstrong was a huge man at 6ft 3ins(1,9m) tall and 21 stone (133kg) and earned the nickname the "Big Ship". He was the first of only two players to have bowled consecutive overs in a test match. He achieved this feat at Old Trafford in 1921.

Answer: Mary MacKillop

Mary MacKillop (1842-1909) was born in Melbourne, Australia and was a Catholic nun. It was in South Australia that she co-founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sacred Heart that was a congregation of sisters that developed educational facilities for the under privileged. The process to declare her a saint was started in the 1920s, however, she was beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. She was declared a saint as, St. Mary of the Cross.

Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952) was a bush nurse who developed a new method of treating victims of poliomyelitis. Her methods and principles became internationally accepted and were the creation of physiotherapy. Her book "And They Shall Walk" was adapted into a 1946 movie "Sister Kenny" starring Rosalind Russell who received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. Elizabeth Kenny was also an army nurse who served in Europe during WWI.

Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834-1905) was an indigenous Tasmanian and considered by many as the last full blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal. Her wax cylinder songs that were recorded in 1903 in her native language were inducted into the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register in 2017. In 1854 she married ex-convict, William Smith and they had 11 children between 1855-1880.

Jane Foss Barff (1863-1937) was only the second women to graduate from the University of Sydney with a degree in 1886. She was a founding member of the "Women's College" at the university in 1892. She was known as an educator and activator for women's rights to higher education. In 2008 a building at the University of Sydney was named in her honour now known as The Jane Foss Russell Building (Russell was her maiden name). She had married Henry Ebenezer Barff in 1899.

Answer: Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan (1861-1932) was a social worker who campaigned for the rights and welfare of women and children. Her mother died when she was 7 years old and her father was executed for murder when she was 14 years old. She then lived her her grandmother and married James Cowan at the age of 18 years. Together they had four children. She became the first Australian female to be elected to parliament when she became a Member of the Parliament of Western Australia from 1921-1924. Since 1995 she has been honoured on the reverse side of the Australian $50 note.

Enid Lyons (1897-1981) was the first women elected to the House of Representatives of the federal parliament in 1943 and served until 1951. He husband, Joseph Lyons (1879-1939) had been the 10th Prime Minister of Australia from 1932-1939.

Dorothy Tangney (1907-1985) was the first female elected to the Australian Senate in 1943. She served in the Senate until 1968. In 1993 Dorothy Tangney and Enid Lyons appeared on an Australian postage stamp to mark 50 years since they had been elected as the first women elected to the federal parliament.

Kathy Sullivan (b. 1942) was the first women to be elected to the Australian Senate (1972-1984) and the Australian House of Representatives (1982-2001).

Answer: Rod Laver

Rod Laver (b. 1934) is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all-time. His career spanned the years 1956-1979 and during that period he won 20 grand slam titles (11 singles, 6 doubles and 3 mixed doubles) and was a member of five Davis Cup winning squads the first in 1959 and the last in 1973. He was the first tennis player to win all four major singles titles (Australian, French, Wimbledon and US) on two ocassions, the first in 1962 (as an amateur) and as a professional in 1969.

Evonne Goolagong (b.1951) was a professional tennis player who won seven Grand Slam singles titles, six Grand Slam doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. Evonne is an indigenous Australian and her parents are members of the Wiradjuri people. As a 19 year old she won the French Open and Wimbledon singles titles in 1971. In 1980 Evonne won her second Wimbledon singles title as a mother, the first in 66 years. She married former British tennis player Roger Crawley in 1975 and they now reside in Queensland, Australia with their two grown up children.

Margaret Court (b. 1942) also won the Grand Slam of tennis winning all four major singles titles in 1970. Throughout her career she won 64 grand slam major titles (24 singles, 19 Women's doubles and 21 mixed doubles).

Ken Rosewall (b.1934) had a career spanning 24 years (amateur and professional) from 1956-1980. He won 18 major titles including eight singles titles. The only major singles titles he did not win was Wimbledon where he was, however, runner-up on four occasions 1954, 1956, 1970 and 1974.

Answer: Dame Nellie Melba

Born Helén Porter Mitchell (1861-1931) in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne. As an artist she took the name "Melba" from her home town. She moved to London in 1888 after an unsuccessful marriage and over the ensuring years achieved success in Paris, Brussels, Milan, Vienna, St. Petersburg and Berlin. She sang in French, Italian and German Opera. It was in 1893 that she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. When WWI broke out she was back in Australia so she enthusiastically got involved in fund-raising for war charities. In 1918 she was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for Service in organising patriotism work". In her honour the French chef Augusta Escoffier created the foods, Peach Melba, Melba sauce, Melba toast and Melba Garniture. The image of her face appears on the Australian $100 note.

Joan Sutherland (1926-2010) was a soprano performer during the 1950s -1980s. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award in 1962 for Classical Performance. June Bronhill (1929-2005) was a soprano opera singer and actress. She is best remembered for he light opera and musical theatre on London's West End and in Australia. Eva Mylott (1875-1920) was an opera singer and travelled to Europe and was the protege of Dame Nellie Melba in 1902. She settled in the USA and is the paternal grandmother of actor and director, Mel Gibson.

Answer: Betty Cuthbert

Betty Cuthbert (1938-2017) was a four time Olympic gold medalist and earned the nickname of Australia's "Golden Girl" after her three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics (100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay) . She was beset by injuries and retired temporarily with a comeback for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics where she won gold in the 400m. She has the distinction of being the first and to-date only athlete, male and female, to have won Olympic gold in track and field for 100m, 200m and 400m.

Shirley Strickland (1925-2004) competed in track and field at three Olympic Games (1948, 1952 and 1956). She won three gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Two of her gold medals were for the 80m hurdles in 1952 and 1956.
Marjorie Jackson (b. 1931) won Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. These were the first track gold medals for Australia since Edwin Flack in 1896. Marjorie was the Governor General for South Australia from 2001-2007.

Cathy Freeman (b. 1973) is a former Australian Aboriginal sprinter who won two gold medals in the 400m at the World Championships in 1997 and 1999. She won silver in the 400m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. However, it was at the 2000 Sydney Olympics that she won Olympic gold in the 400m where she was also the torch bearer who lit the Olympic flame.

Answer: P.L. Travers

Helen Lyndon Goff (1899-1996) wrote under the name of P.L.Travers and is best known as the writer of the "Mary Poppins" series of children's novels. She spent a good part of her life and career in England. She wrote eight Mary Poppins books and while in New York City during WWII she was approached by Walt Disney to buy the rights to the series. He finally obtained the rights and the book was adapted into film in 1964 and then a stage musical in 2004. P.L. Travers was portrayed by Emma Thompson in the 2013 period drama film " Saving Mr. Banks" with Tom Hanks portraying Walt Disney.

Louise Mack (1870-1935) was a journalist,novelist and poet. She had her first novel published in 1896 and over the next 40 years had 26 novels published. She travelled to Europe and when WWI broke out in 1914 she was in Belgium. She became the first female war correspondent and wrote for the Evening News and London Daily Mail. She gave an eye-witness account of the German invasion of Antwerp and in 1915 she had published "A Woman's Experiences in the Great War". Returning to Australia she frequently wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Women's Weekly, the Bulletin and other newspapers and magazines.
Liane Moriarty (1964) is an Australian author of a number of novels. It is her novel "Big Little Lies" that has been adapted into a television series in the USA starring Reece Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. Joan Lindsay (1896-1984) was a novelist, playwright and essayist. He most famous work is the 1967 novel "Picnic at Hanging Rock" which was adapted into a successful movie of the same name in 1975.

Answer: Charles Tait

Charles Tait (1868-1933) directed and wrote the world's first festure length narrative film in 1906 which lasted 60 minutes. It was first shown at the Athenaeum, Melbourne on December 26, 1906. The film was "The Story of the Kelly Gang" and it premiered in the UK in January 1908. Charles Tait was a concert, film and theatrical entrepreneur. Norman Brookes (1877-1968) became the first Australian, the first left-handed player and the first non-British player in 30 years, to win the Wimbledon Men's singles titles in 1907.

He won the title again in 1914. He also won the Wimbledon Men's doubles titles in 1907 and 1914. Ken G. Hall (1901-1994) was the first Australian to win an Academy Award in any category. He was a film producer and director and won the Oscar for the "Best Documentary Feature" in 1942 for "Kokoda Front Line!" Edmund Barton (1849-1920) born in Globe, NSW was Australia's first Prime Minister from 1901-1903.

Although he was elected in March 1901, his term began from January 1, 1901 when Australia became a Federation.

Answer: Errol Flynn

Errol Flynn (1909-1959) was born in Hobart, Tasmania and his father was a professor at the University of Tasmania. Errol spent two years in England at a private boarding school from 1923-25 then returned to Australia. He was expelled from school and at aged 18 years went off to Papua New Guinea to make his fortune. He returned to Australia and by chance appeared in an Australian film version of "Mutiny on the Bounty". It was this taste of acting that he decided to go to England in 1933 and then in 1935 to Hollywood. In 1935 he appeared in the lead role in "Captain Blood" opposite 19 year old Olivia de Havilland. Before Flynn got the role the other actors considered for the role were Robert Donat, Leslie Howard and James Cagney. Over the next few years he starred in a number of movies including "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936), "The Prince and the Pauper" (1937), "Dawn Patrol" (1938) and "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1939). During this period he also went to Spain as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War. In the 1940s and 1959s he appeared in a number of westerns, war movies and thrillers. His last known acting role was in 1959, shortly before he died at the young age of 50 years.
Orry George Kelly (1897-1964) born in Kiama, NSW and was a Hollywood costume designer. He won three Academy Awards for Costume Design for "An American in Paris" (1951), "Les Girls" (1959), "Some Like it Hot" (1959) and was nominated for a fourth for "Gypsy" (1962).

Cate Blanchett (b. 1969) won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2004 for her role as Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator". It was the first time an Oscar had been awarded to an individual portraying another Oscar winner. In 2013, Cate won her second Oscar, this time for Best Actress as Jasmine Frances in the Woody Allen black comedy drama "Blue Jasmine". Catherine Martin (b. 1965) has won four Academy Awards. The first two being in 2002 for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design for "Moulin Rouge!" and the same two Oscars in 2014 for her designs in "The Great Gatsby".

Answer: Rev. John Flynn

John Flynn (1880-1951) was born in Victoria and became an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1911. He spent many years in the Australian Outback providing spiritual services and then the medical care for those in isolated areas. From basic medical facilities to bush hospitals and for the need to reach those in remote outback areas the aerial service came into effect during the 1920s. From Australian Inland Mission to Australian Aerial Medical Service and then renamed Flying Doctor Service in 1942, with the Royal being bestowed in 1955. Nowadays the RFDS has over 60 aircraft, numerous four-wheel drive vehicles, over 20 bases with over 1,200 employees. It is estimated that on a daily basis over 70,000kms are travelled by air to provide medical Service to outlying areas.

Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935) was a flying pioneer who while serving in the Royal Air Corps during WWI he was shot down and was required to have two toes amputated. In 1928 he made the first transpacific flight from Oakland, California,USA to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia covering 11,566 Kmart with stops in Hawaii and Fiji. In 1930 he won a flying race from England to Australia which he won and took 13 days. Sadly, in 1935 while attempting to break the record from England to Australia, he and his co-pilot John Thompson Pethybridge were last seen over the Bay of Bengal and their bodies were never recovered. He was knighted as Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith in 1932 by King George V. The Sydney International Airport is named in his honor.
Nancy Bird Walton (1915-2009) became the youngest Australian women at age 19, to gain a pilots licence. She used her Gipsy Moth as an air ambulance in outlying areas of NSW and Queensland and became known as "The Angel of the Outback". She reached outlying areas that The Royal Flying Doctor Service had not been able to reach at that time. She is the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots' Association. Reginald Ansett (1909-1981) was a businessman and aviator. He founded Ansett Airways in 1936 which became one of Australia's largest domestic airlines up to 2001 after being placed into administration.