Margaret Elvire Forrest

Margaret Hamersley was born 1844 in Havre, France and died in Western Australia in 1929. She was the daughter of Edward Hamersley and his wife Anne Louise Hamersley (nee Corneles).

Her childhood was spent in Pyrton, Champion Bay, Toodyay and North Beach. The family had a holiday home called the Castle at North Beach.

Margaret Hamersley married John Forrest in 1876 at St George’s Cathedral in Perth. Lord John Forrest was a surveyor, Deputy Surveyor General of Western Australia in 1876 became Western Australia’s first Premier. Later he became Treasurer of the Commonwealth.

Lady Forrest had a busy life with “a continuous round of bazaars and fetes to open, school prizes to distribute, charity balls and concerts to organize, committees to look after”. She painted wildflowers, making “ever so many excursions for uncommon blossoms”. Lady Forrest was the first president of the Federal Liberal Women’s Council. She firmly believed that women should be “interested and well-informed in the politics of her country”. She died at Georgina, near Geraldton. She was already widowed and had no children.