Margaret Holmes

Margaret Joan Holmes (née Read; 24 January 1909 – 10 September 2009) was an Australian peace activist, particularly during the Vietnam War and as part of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship. She founded the New South Wales branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1960, and in 2001 was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the community. Biography Margaret Holmes was born into a wealthy Sydney family on 24 January 1909, the eldest of five children, and grew up in Wahroonga. She attended The Women's College, University of Sydney, where she was the first female student to have a car, and studied medicine. While at university, Holmes became involved with the Christian Student Movement and identified with Christian pacifism. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science and in 1933 married a doctor, T. A. G. (Tag) Holmes, instead of becoming one. Margaret and Tag Holmes built a home in Military Road, Mosman, a suburb on Sydney's Lower North Shore, where T. A. G. Holmes had his medical practice and they raised six children. At the beginning of World War II, the Holmeses established the "50-50 Club", a weekly social evening where "new Australians" could get to know the locals and better integrate into their new society.