Blackwood, Margaret (1909-1986)

Also known as
Blackwood, Margaret, (Dame) (1909-1986)
Field of activity
Botanist, Geneticist and Servicewoman; Botanist and Geneticist; academic; air force officer; botanist; geneticist; schoolteacher; women's activist
NLA Persistent Identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-756060

Biographies

BLACKWOOD, Dame MARGARET (1909-1986), botanist and geneticist, was born on 26 April 1909 at South Yarra, Melbourne, second of three children of Tasmanian-born parents Robert Leslie Blackwood, schoolteacher, and his wife Muriel Pearl, née Henry. (Sir) Robert Blackwood was Margaret’s elder brother. Her mother had been a teacher before marriage, and from 1920 her father was classics tutor and sub-warden of Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Growing up in `a scholarly environment’, she attended Melbourne Church of England Girls’ Grammar School, which emphasised academic attainment and encouraged scientific studies. Her biology teacher, Dorothy Ross, was inspiring.

View the full record at Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Margaret Blackwood graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BSc in 1938 and MSc in 1940. During the Second World War she served with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and then was granted an ex-service postgraduate scholarship for Cambridge, where she gained a PhD for her work in plant genetics. In 1951 Blackwood returned to Melbourne and was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne until 1974. She was then elected a member of the University Council and in 1980 became the first female Deputy Chancellor. She held both these positions until her retirement in 1983. She was appointed as a Member of the British Empire in 1964 for work in botany and was appointed a Dame (Order of the British Empire - Dames Commander) for her services to education in 1980.

  • 26 April 1909 Born daughter of Robert Leslie and Muriel Pearl (née Henry) Blackwood
  • 1932 - 1933 Senior science mistress at Lowther Hall CEGGS
  • 1934 - 1938 Senior science mistress at Korowa CEGGS
  • 1938 University of Melbourne demonstrator and Howitt Research Student
  • 1939 - 1941 Demonstrator and Caroline Kay Research Scholarship Plant Cytology and Genetics at the University of Melbourne
  • 15 March 1941 Joined Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) at inception as airwoman
  • 27 March 1941 Commissioned WAAAF
  • 1942 Commanding Officer at No 1 WAAAF Training Depot
  • 1942 - 1944 Officer-in-charge, with rank of Squadran Officer, WAAAF Training
  • 1945 Staff Officer with WAAAF Western Area
  • January 1946 Discharged from Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force with the rank of Wing Officer
  • 1947 - 1948 Dean of Women, Mildura Branch, Melbourne University
  • 1957 - 1958 Australian Chairman of the Soroptimist International Association
  • 1958 - 1959 Carnegie Scholar for Cambridge University in England
  • 1961 - 1974 Chairman of the Melbourne University Council and Founder Fellow of the Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne
  • 1975 - 1986 Member of the Council of the University of Melbourne

View the full record at Australian Women's Register

(Dame) Margaret Blackwood was Lecturer in Botany after World War II and was Dean of Women at the Mildura Branch of the University of Melbourne. She was at Cambridge 1948-50 before returning to Melbourne where she was a Senior Lecturer until her retirement in 1975.

  • 1939 - 1941 Career position - Caroline Kay Research Scholar in Plant Cytology and Genetics
  • 1941 - 1946 Career position - Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), rising to Wing Officer
  • 1946 - 1948 Career position - Lecturer in Botany and Dean of Women at the Mildura Branch of the University of Melbourne
  • 1948 - 1950 Career position - Newnham College at Cambridge
  • 1951 - 1975 Career position - Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne
  • 1957 - 1958 Career position - Australian and New Zealand Chairman of Soroptimist International Association
  • 1964 Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
  • 1975 Life event - Retired
  • 1975 - 1983 Career position - Member of the University Council
  • 1981 Award - Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
  • 1981 - 1983 Career position - Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne

View the full record at Encyclopedia of Australian Science

Related people and organisations

Australian Women's Register

Resources for Margaret Blackwood

Selected resources (29)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online

Australian Women's Register

  1. Blackwood, Dame Margaret (1909 - 1986)Australian Dictionary of Biography Online : Blackwood, Dame Margaret (1909 - 1986)
    Carey, Jane
    [2006]
    Published: Australian National University
    Series: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A170107b.htm
  2. A learned start to discovery dayThe Sun 46 : A learned start to discovery day
    Ross, Caroline
    [1983]
  3. Women and science at the University of Melbourne: reflections on the career of Dame Margaret BlackwoodWorking papers: The University of Melbourne. History of the University Project 2 : Women and science at the University of Melbourne: reflections on the career of Dame Margaret Blackwood
    Carey, Jane
    [1996]
    Published: The University of Melbourne
  4. Blackwood, Margaret (1909-1986), Biographical EntryBright Sparcs : Blackwood, Margaret (1909-1986), Biographical Entry
    [2002]
    Published: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    Series: http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P002194b.htm
  5. BLACKWOOD, MARGARETWorld War 2 Nominal Roll Department of Veterans' Affairs : BLACKWOOD, MARGARET
    Department of Veterans' Affairs
    [2002]
    Series: http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/script/veteran.asp?ServiceID=R&VeteranID=1069562
  6. Margaret Blackwood200 Australian women Radi, Heather 224-225 : Margaret Blackwood
    Falk, Barbara
    [1988]
    Published: Women's Redress Press Inc
  7. Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989
    Australian Women's Archives Project
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Women's Archives Project
    Series: http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html
  8. Where are the Women in Australian science?
    Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    [2003]
    Published: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    Series: http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html
  9. The WAAAF in Wartime Australia
    Thomson, Joyce A
    [1992]
    Published: Melbourne University Press
  10. Another time/place [sound recording]
    Public Broadcasting Association of Australia
    Published: Melbourne : National Programme Service
  11. A History of the Lyceum Club Melbourne
    Gillison, Joan M
    [1975]
    Published: The Lyceum Club
  12. Who's who in Australia 1983
    Draper, W J
    [1983]
    Published: The Herald and Weekly Times
  13. 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology
    Radi, Heather
    [1988]
    Published: Women's Redress Press
  14. The Ian Potter Museum of Art: Dame Margaret Blackwood DBE, MBE (c. 1985)
    Portrait by Shirley Bourne, oil on linen, not dated, 101.6 X 76.5cm.
    1986.0002
  15. The University of Melbourne Archives: Papers of Dame Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986) (1951 - 1974)
    3 Notebooks listing crossings in maize, done by Margaret Blackwood and continued by Dr Olive Lawson. They are labled: 1 Maize Field Book I 1951 to 1967 Dr M Blackwood, Botany School, University of Melbourne. Maize Crosses. Made and Ears Collected... 2 Field Book Maize II 1968 to 1974 & continued by O.B. Lawson... 3 Maize Pedigree Book. Dr Blackwood's Maize Planting Book. 1949 [f] ..."Record of Maize kernels (seeds planted each year & the parents they came from." Pasted in 15 July 1959 memo GJCuming to MB soil samp
    89/50
  16. The University of Melbourne Archives: Papers of Dame Margaret Blackwood(1909-1986) (1936 - 1986)
    Personal papers, 1936-1986. Correspondence; photographs; diaries; memoribilia; personal files; WAAF papers; Women's Graduate Centenary Committee; Newham College rolls; publications; photograph of unidentified University students, c. 1890's; B.A. degree certificate with seal attached of Ada McKay.
    88/25
  17. Australian War Memorial Research Centre: In the outdoors, Yarra Valley, Vic.
    Yarra Valley, Vic. C. 1943-09. In the outdoors, the Director WAAAF, Group Officer Clare Stevenson (second from left) and a WAAAF Wing Officer (in dark uniform) conversing with WAAAF officers who conducted a four-day bivouac for a group of WAAAF officer trainees in an area near Launching Place, as part of their training course. Third from the left is Squadron Officer Margaret Blackwood, the officer in charge of the bivouac and on the extreme right is Flight Officer Doris Carter, a staff instructor for the bivouac. On the latter's right is her assistant, Section Officer Helen Palmer.
    VIC1314
  18. Australian War Memorial Research Centre: Wing Officer Margaret Blackwood (at rear); Director WAAAF; Wing Officer Dorothy Hawthorn (front); Wing Officer Mary Rawlins; Wing Officer Gwen Stark (1945)
    Melbourne, Vic. C. 1945-04. Group portrait of four "original" WAAAF officers with the Director WAAAF Group Officer Clare Stevenson after a WAAAF Staff Officers conference at Air Force Headquarters, Victoria Barracks. Left to right: Wing Officer Margaret Blackwood (at rear); Director WAAAF; Wing Officer Dorothy Hawthorn (front); Wing Officer Mary Rawlins; Wing Officer Gwen Stark.
    VIC0933

Encyclopedia of Australian Science

  1. Blackwood, Dame Margaret (1909-1986), Botanist and GeneticistAustralian Dictionary of Biography 17 110-111 : Blackwood, Dame Margaret (1909-1986), Botanist and Geneticist
    Carey, Jane
    [2007]
  2. 200 Australian Women: a Redress Anthology
    Radi, H.
    [1988]
    Published: Women's Redress Press Inc
  3. Barrier Unknown? Margaret Blackwood's Life in Science
    Carey, Jane
    [1995]
    Published: Department of History, University of Melbourne
  4. Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986) botanist200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology Heather Radi : Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986) botanist
    Falk, Barbara
    [1988]
    Published: Women's Redress Press Inc
  5. Departing from their sphere: Australian women and science, 1880-1960
    Carey, Jane
    [2003]
    Published: The University of Melbourne
  6. Departing from their sphere: Australian women and science, 1880-1960
    Carey, Jane
    [2003]
    Published: The University of Melbourne
  7. Women and Science at the University of Melbourne: Reflections on the Career of Dame Margaret Blackwood
    Carey, Jane
    [1996]
    Published: University of Melbourne, History of the University Project
  8. Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986)Australasian Science 20 3 46 : Margaret Blackwood (1909-1986)
    Carey, Jane
    [1999]
  9. Who's Who in Australia 1944
    Alexander, John A.
    [1944]
    Published: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd
  10. The University of Melbourne Archives: Margaret Blackwood - Records (1946 - 1984)
    Personal correspondence 1948-83; field books and maize pedigree book recording maize planting 1949-74 (work begun by Blackwood and continued by Olive Lawson); travel diaries 1948, 1959, 1971-72, 1981-82 and 1984; speeches, newsclippings, reports, appointments 1946-83; lectures, guides and notes on teaching of cytology and genetics c1954-75; certificates; files relating to University and other committees [1 m].

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  1. WH Blackwood
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  3. Margaret Rowan
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    1 year remembrance notice for Margaret Rowen - Great Great Grandmother by Gran (Mary and children)

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  1. Website: 200 Australian Women
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  3. Website: Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
    www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au
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  1. Women and science at the University of Melbourne : reflections on the career of Dame Margaret Blackwood / Jane Carey
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    [ Article : 1996 ]
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  2. Dame Margaret Blackwood Finding Aid
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  3. Records of Dame Margaret Blackwood
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  4. Records of Dame Margaret Blackwood
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  1. [Biographical cuttings on Blackwood, Margaret Dame, geneticist and botanist, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]
    [ Published : 1900-1990 ]
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  2. Papers
    Blackwood, Margaret, Dame, 1909-1986
    [ Unpublished : 1936-1986 ]
    At Uni Melbourne Arch
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  3. The reminiscences of Jane Caverhill, nee Mack, 1841-1894, / Jane Caverhill
    Caverhill, Jane Blackwood, 1841-1894
    [ Unpublished : 1950 ]
    At National Library
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  1. Soil map Blackwood River area, part Land Districts of Sussex and Nelson, South West Division of Western Australia / soil surveyors R. Smith, G.A. Stewart
    Smith, R. (Robert)
    [ Map : 1951 ]
    At National Library
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  2. Wineries Western Australia : includes the following wine regions: Blackwood Valley, Geographe, Great Southern, Manjimup, Margaret River, Peel, Pemberton, Perth Hills, Swan district / map produced by Product & Service Delivery Branch, Department of La...
    Western Australia. Dept. of Land Information. Product & Service Delivery Branch
    [ Map : 2005 ]
    At 2 libraries
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  3. Wineries Western Australia : includes the following wine regions: Blackwood Valley, Geographe, Great Southern, Manjimup, Margaret River, Peel, Pemberton, Perth Hills, Swan district / map produced by Product Development & Delivery Branch, Landgate in ...
    Western Australia. Landgate
    [ Map : 2007 ]
    At 2 libraries
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  1. Harry & Hopper / Margaret Wild, Freya Blackwood
    Wild, Margaret, 1948-
    [ Book : 2009-2011 ]
    At 80 libraries
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  2. The Monstrous regiment : a book of aphorisms / compiled by Margaret Blackwood
    Blackwood, Margaret
    [ Book : 1990 ]
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  3. Annals of a publishing house : William Blackwood and his sons, their magazine and friends
    Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret), 1828-1897
    [ Book : 1897-1974 ]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
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    At 8 libraries
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  4. Soils of the Margaret River - Lower Blackwood River districts, Western Australia / by R. Smith
    Smith, R. (Robert)
    [ Book : 1951 ]
    At 8 libraries
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  1. The Merchant of Venice / [William Shakespeare]
    Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
    The Review of English Studies
    [ Book, Article, Audio book : 1623-2011 ]
    Languages: English, Arabic, Japanese, [11 others]
    read online at Open Library/Internet Archive
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    At 156 libraries
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  2. Greenfield's Neuropathology
    Greenfield, J. Godwin (Joseph Godwin), 1884-1958
    [ Book, Video : 1963-2008 ]
    Languages: English, end
    At 38 libraries
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  3. As you like it / edited by Michael Hattaway
    Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
    [ Book, Audio book, Article : 1899-2012 ]
    read online at Hathi Trust
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    At 46 libraries
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  4. Middlemarch / George Eliot ; edited with an introduction and notes by Rosemary Ashton
    Eliot, George, 1819-1880
    The Review of English Studies
    [ Book, Audio book, Article : 1871-2011 ]
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  1. Literature. ZAIDEE: a Romance, By MARGARET OLIPHANT. London: William Blackwood and Sons.
    The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) Saturday 24 May 1856 p 3 Article
    ... Literature. ZAIDEE : a Romance, By MARGARET OLIPHANT. London: London : William Blackwood and Sons. THIS is a domestic novel of the present day, reprinted from the pages of Blackwood's wood's Magazine. The style is graceful, easy, and attractive. The identity of the characters is well preserved ... 1545 words
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  2. NEW MATES ENROLLED
    The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954) Saturday 2 February 1929 p 23 Article
    ... NEW MATES ENROLLED Mary Teagul. Mile-End. Margaret Richards, Woodville. Joan Short, Blackwood. Beatrice Emsley, Unley.' l/orna Mitchell. Unley. Dolly Appleby. Unley. Beatrice Pena. Port Pirie West. Eileen Afford, Solomontown. ... 29 words
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  3. TEACHING THE YOUNG TO SWIM AT HOBART
    The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) Friday 3 December 1937 p 3 Article Illustrated
    ... (left to right) the Misses Margaret Blackwood, Kathleen Blackwood, and W. Contencin. ... 48 words
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