Pattie Deakin

Elizabeth Martha Anne (Pattie) Deakin CBE (née Browne; 1 January 1863 – 30 December 1934) was the wife of Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia.

She was the fifth of eleven children born to Hugh Junor Browne and his wife Elizabeth at Camp Hill, Tullamarine, Victoria. At first she was educated by a governess, and then, aged 12, attended Mrs Philippa James' Grantown House. She first met her husband in 1877 at the Progressive Lyceum, a Spiritualist Sunday School, where he taught. She married Alfred in 1882 at the age of 19, despite opposition from her parents, who were worried about Alfred's apparent poor health, and who also believed that Pattie could have made a better match. At this time Alfred was a struggling barrister, just elected to the Victorian Parliament for the seat of West Bourke, who augmented his income by writing for The Age.

In 1887 she was a member of the committee of the Queen's Fund. She also became president of the Victorian Neglected Children's Aid Society.

In 1907 she accompanied her husband to the Imperial Conference in London; while there she made her first public speech at the request of Lady Jersey, the wife of the former Governor of New South Wales the Earl of Jersey, to the Primrose League.

The same year, she chaired the nursery and kindergarten committee for the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work, held at the Exhibition Building. The popularity of the model crèche, which Pattie ran, led to the establishment of the Association of Crèches, of which she was the first president. The Free Kindergarten Union was formed similarly; Pattie was president of that too. Revenue from the exhibition helped form the Bush Nursing Association; Pattie became a member of the committee. For twenty years Pattie worked with the Melbourne District Nursing Society, first as president, and subsequently as a life vice-president. With her husband's aid she established the Guild of Play for Children's Playgrounds, which helped make play areas for children in inner-city suburbs.

In 1909 she gained her St Johns Ambulance certificate with honours and was presented with the insignia of an associate of St John of Jerusalem. In 1912 she was invited to be president of the Lyceum Club. From 1915 to 1919 she set up and ran the Soldiers' Refreshment Stall, or Anzac Buffet, initially in a bell tent outside the No. 5 General Hospital in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. After the First World War ended her philanthropic work continued. She became the first president of the Girl Guides and the only female member of the Australian Imperial Forces Canteen Fund Trust. She held this position until her death when her daughter Vera Deakin White took her place. She was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to public life.

Pattie Deakin and her husband Alfred

By her husband she had three daughters:

• Ivy Deakin (1883 – 1970) married Herbert Brookes
• Stella Deakin (1886 – 1976) married Sir David Rivett
• Vera Deakin (1891 – 1978) married Sir Thomas White

She died on 30 December 1934.