{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}{{Use Australian English|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Linley Wilson | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|AM|size=100%}} | image = Norma Linley Wilson14 Jul 1927 IN WOMAN'S WORLD.jpg | image_size = | caption = in 1927 in Woman's World | birth_name = Norma Linley Wilson | birth_date = 28 October 1898 | birth_place = [[East Perth]] | death_date = 9 April 1990 (aged 91) | death_place = [[Nedlands]] | death_cause = | other_names = Linley George | known_for = | education = | employer = | occupation = | spouse = Keith George | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Norma Linley Wilson''' {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} known as '''Linley George''' but better as '''Linley Wilson''' (28 October 1898 – 9 April 1990) was an Australian dancing entrepreneur.
==Life== Wilson was born in 1898 in [[East Perth]]. She was the penultimate child of nine born to Annie (born Phillips) and [[Frank Wilson (politician)|Frank Wilson]].<ref name=ladrb/> Her father was a successful politician serving in the [[parliament of Western Australia]]. He was the premier of the state twice.<ref>{{Citation |last=Black |first=David |title=Frank Wilson (1859–1918) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilson-frank-9135 |access-date=2024-06-04 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref> She went to Claremont Girls' High School where she gained an enthusiasm for the piano.<ref name=ladrb/> She went to London to become a concert pianist leaving her work in a music shop. London did not make her a concert pianist but a dancing teacher. She gathered qualifications from the [[Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing]], and the [[English Folk Dance Society]].<ref name=ladrb/>
The Linley Wilson School of Dancing opened in 1926 in Perth.<ref name=museum>{{Cite web |title=Norma Linley Wilson |url=https://www.streetsofbunbury.com/norma-linley-wilson |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Streets of Bunbury |language=en-US}}</ref> [[File:Australian Caravan Ballet created 1940 by Norma Linley WOMAN'S REALM.jpg|thumb|The Australian Caravan Ballet in Women's Realm in 1940]] She kept a high profile and continued to study and learn new dances. She enjoyed seeing the Russian ballet when it visited but she dreamed that one day there would be an Australian ballet. In 1940 she formed the Australian Caravan Ballet that was based in two caravans. The first two performances were to nearly full houses. The caravans were still touring in 1953,<ref name=museum/> when the [[West Australian Ballet Company]] was formed.<ref name=ladrb/>
In 1972 her ballet school was sold and two years later Dame [[Margot Fonteyn]] successfully nominated her to join the [[Royal Academy of Dancing]]'s board.<ref name=ladrb/> In 1978 she became a [[Order of Australia|Member of the Order of Australia (AM)]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870037 |access-date=2024-06-04 |title=AM award|website=honours.pmc.gov.au}}</ref>
==Private life== She married Keith George when he was on leave during the war in 1942. He was known as a theatre producer.<ref name=museum/>
==Death and legacy== Wilson died in 1990 in [[Nedlands]]. Her money had been used to pay for nursing for her husband and then for herself. She had hoped to found a chair of dance at the [[University of Western Australia]]. This never happened,<ref name=ladrb>{{Citation |last=Fisher |first=Lynn M. |title=Norma Linley Wilson (1898–1990) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilson-norma-linley-15798 |access-date=2024-06-04 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en |last2=Bolton |first2=G. C.}}</ref> but the Linley Wilson scholarship was still being awarded in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2020-10-16 |title=WA Festival of Dance dancers return to stage |url=https://dancemagazine.com.au/2020/10/wa-festival-of-dance-sees-young-dancers-return-to-the-stage-in-2020/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Dance Informa Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilson-norma-linley-15798 Biography at ADB]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Norma Linley}} [[Category:1898 births]] [[Category:1990 deaths]] [[Category:Entertainers from Perth, Western Australia]] [[Category:Dance teachers]] [[Category:Australian impresarios]] [[Category:Members of the Order of Australia]]