Amy Grace Wheaton
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10 July 1898
Amy Grace Wheaton | |
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| Born | Amy Grace Priest 10 July 1898 Gawler South, South Australia |
| Died | 12 February 1988 (aged 89) Adelaide, South Australia |
| Education | Adelaide High School, University of Adelaide |
Amy Grace Wheaton, MBE (née Priest; 10 July 1898 – 12 February 1988) was a social worker educator, teacher, and feminist who was the president of the Australian Federation of Women Voters, co-founder and vice president of the South Australian Council of Social Service, and the first director of the South Australian Board of Social Studies.[1][2]
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Wheaton was born on 10 July 1898 in Gawler South, South Australia. She was the eldest daughter of Ernest Conrad William Priest and Emily Sarah Springbett Priest (née Carman) and great-granddaughter of Charles Thomas Hewett, with six siblings.[2][3][4] She married bank officer Douglas Wheaton on 5 February 1925 in the Stow Memorial Congregational Church and they had three sons: Geoff, Neville and Roger.[1][3][5]
She became the president of the Australian Federation of Women Voters from 1951–1954 to promote representation at every level of government with claims that "equal responsibility is more important than equal pay".[1] She was bilingual, with fluency in German and French, and had interests in Australian immigration, women's rights, child welfare, citizenship, positive development within communities, town planning, and all topics of welfare and social work.[3][5]
In 1939, Wheaton was awarded for her service in the community by the King, who gifted her an MBE in the birthday honours, and she became a life member of the Australian Association of Social Workers in 1965.[5] She died on 12 February in 1988 in Adelaide and was cremated.[3]
