Joy Cummings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joy Cummings | |
|---|---|
| Lord Mayor of Newcastle | |
| In office September 1977 – 16 April 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Don Geddes (Acting) |
| Lord Mayor of Newcastle | |
| In office September 1974 – September 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Gordon Anderson |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joyce Anne Plumbe 23 December 1923 Ramsgate, New South Wales |
| Died | 1 July 2003 (aged 79) New Lambton Heights, New South Wales |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Awards | Member of the Order of Australia |
Joyce Anne Cummings, AM (née Plumbe; 23 December 1923 – 1 July 2003) was an Australian politician. She was the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, and Australia's first female Lord Mayor, from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1977 until 1984, when she retired from politics following a severe stroke.
Cummings was born Joyce Anne Plumbe on 23 December 1923 at Ramsgate, New South Wales, to Charlotte and Dallas Plumbe. She moved to the Newcastle area at the onset of the Second World War when her father, a fireman, was transferred to the Scott Street Brigade. It was here that she met and married Ray Cummings, who was also a fireman, together raising a family of four children.[1]
Cummings is the maternal grandmother of actress Sarah Wynter.[2][3]
Political career
Cummings became a member of the Australian Labor Party in 1938, at the age of 15,[1] and later entered local politics in 1968. During her political career she was active in promoting environmental and heritage conservation, the arts, local business and industry, and social reforms. Some of her achievements included the preservation of the East End of Newcastle and Cooks Hill, the refurbishment of the Civic Theatre, and the preservation of Blackbutt Reserve and the Shortland Wetlands. She was also a vocal opponent to the closure of the Newcastle State Dockyards. Two significant social reforms was the use by her of Advance Australia Fair during Citizenship Ceremonies in 1977 and the flying of the Aboriginal flag over the town hall, both of which were Australian firsts.[4]
Cummings was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1975 and awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.[5][6]
