# Beryl McLeish

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Australian civil servant

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**Beryl Elizabeth McLeish**, (*[née](/source/N%C3%A9e)* **King**; 6 February 1902 – 10 January 1974) was an Australian [civil servant](/source/Civil_service) and a wartime superintendent of the [Australian Women's Land Army](/source/Australian_Women's_Land_Army) (AWLA).

## Early life

Beryl Elizabeth King was born on 6 February 1902 in [Gympie](/source/Gympie), [Queensland](/source/Queensland), the eldest child of engine driver Walter Henry King and music teacher Alice Mary (*née* Marshall). She attended the local school and relocated to Brisbane in 1920 to join the [Queensland Public Service](/source/Queensland_Public_Service), working as private secretary to the under-secretaries of the Department of Labour Industry.[1]

## Personal life and career

King married solicitor Edward Francis Pender on 5 August 1939 at the [All Saints Church](/source/All_Saints_Anglican_Church%2C_Brisbane) in [Wickham Terrace](/source/Wickham_Terrace). She became secretary of the local chapter of the [Australian Comforts Fund's](/source/Australian_Comforts_Fund) Queensland division. In 1941, her husband enlisted in the [Australian Imperial Force](/source/Second_Australian_Imperial_Force); a year later, King was appointed as the administrative officer of the [Australian Women's Land Army](/source/Australian_Women's_Land_Army) (AWLA) in Queensland. The couple filed for divorce some five years later. The AWLA worked to [mobilise](/source/Mobilization) female workers to replace male workers who had left to fight during [the war](/source/World_War_II). McLeish was instrumental in [recruiting](/source/Recruitment) women, and in overcoming the skepticism of some farmers who were uneasy with having women replace their male workers.[1]

King married 74-year-old grazier Daniel Matthew McLeish on 31 October 1946 at the [Ann Street Presbyterian Church](/source/Ann_Street_Presbyterian_Church) in [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane). In the 1950s, she moved to [Auchenflower](/source/Auchenflower%2C_Queensland), Brisbane where she found an administrative job at Building & Industrial Supplies. She retired in her 60s. Her second husband Daniel McLeish died in 1973, and King herself died on 10 January 1974 in Auchenflower.[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-adb_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-adb_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-adb_1-2) Taylor, Helen. ["McLeish, Beryl Elizabeth (1902–1974)"](https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcleish-beryl-elizabeth-11013). *Australian Dictionary of Biography*. Australian National University. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170305191847/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcleish-beryl-elizabeth-11013) from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.

Authority control databases: People Trove Australia Australian Women's Register

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