Shep's Place Family Tree

12 November 1912 - 4 September 2005

Dame Nancy Buttfield died on Sunday 4th September, 2005 at the age of 92 years. She was not only the first South Australian woman to be elected to Parliament as a Commonwealth Senator in 1955 - but also, was a robust eccentric who forced open the door of respect for generations of women who followed her.

Dame Nancy described her occupation as a 'professional fundraiser.' She stood for the Liberal Party in 1954 - was unsuccessful - but won a Senate seat for the Liberal Party the following year ‎(53 years after women had been "given"
the vote)‎.

She was honoured in 1972 as a Dame of the British Empire. Resigned from the Sebate in 1974. Dame Nancy believed her 16 years in Parliament did help change something. "It helped give people the idea that a woman can do it," she once said in retirement.

Two areas of Dame Nancy's political career which still resound, were her fight for equal pay for women and abolishing the ban on married women in politics.

Her husband Frank Charles Buttfield, who always lovingly referred to her as "the boss", joined her in running a youth venture club after her retirement.

Dame Nancy is survived by her two sons, Ian and Andrew, and five grandchildren.