Bridget Yelverton Lee Steere

Bridget Yelverton Lee Steere, also Lady Lee Steere OBE (24 February 1884, Wellington, NZ - 23 July 1979, Perth, Western Australia) was State Commissioner for Western Australia Girl Guides from 1931 to 1953. She was a recipient of the Silver Fish Award, Girl Guiding's highest adult honour. She was a lifetime member of the YWCA.

Bridget Yelverton Lee Steere

OBE
Lady Lee Steere (1948)
Born(1884-02-24)24 February 1884
Wellington, New Zealand
Died23 July 1979(1979-07-23) (aged 95)
Perth, Western Australia
Other namesLady Lee Steere
Biddy[1]
OccupationGirl Guide leader

Early life

Bridget Yelverton O'Connor was born in New Zealand to Susan Laetitia and Charles Yelverton O'Connor. She was one of seven children, including Lady Julius.[2] The family moved to Western Australia in 1891.[3]

Girl Guides

Lee Steere was enrolled into Girl Guiding by Chief Guide Lady Baden-Powell during her visit to Australia in 1931.[4]

From 1931 to 1953 she was Acting State Commissioner,[5] and then State Commissioner for Western Australia Girl Guides.[6][7] In 1934 she represented Australia at the 8th WAGGGS World Conference at Our Chalet, Switzerland.[8] In 1935 she attended a Commissioner Training Camp at Foxlease, New Forest, England.[9] In reference to her Guiding activity in 1937 she was called “one of the busiest women in the west” by The Australian Women's Weekly.[10]

As part of her 1931 trip to Australia, Lady Baden-Powell brought a Cenotaph flag to present to Australia's Girl Guide Association. These were flags that had been retired from their role at the Cenotaph in London, donated to the Imperial War Museum and subsequently redistributed to relevant organisations around the world. Steere carried this flag to many parts of Australia during her tenure as State Commissioner.[11]

During World War II she set up a War Time Work Party, to help Britain's bombed areas. She initiated fundraising towards the cost of two air ambulances, a lifeboat for Red Cross Polish Relief work, and the Australian Comforts Fund, an initiative to "Keep the Fit Man Fit" by providing items such as soap and razors for soldiers.[12]

The Lady Lee Steere Training Centre was built in Boyup Brook, Western Australia.[13]

Upon her retirement as State Commissioner in 1953, she was presented with a silver sugar spoon with a miniature Brownie on the top as a gift from the 1,600 Brownies in the state.[14]

In 1958 the second phase of work began on Paxwold, Western Australia's Girl Guide campsite and training centre.[15] The main training room was named after her and she formally opened the building on 19 March 1960.[16]

Other work

Lee Steere was a lifetime member of the YWCA.[17] From 1922 to 1928 she was on the board of governors, from 1930 to 1939 she was President. She retired as Vice President in 1950.[18]

She was a founder of the Flying Angel Guild, to work for Missions to Seamen.[19]

In 1946 Lady and Sir Lee Steere donated £2,000 to the Flying Angel's Missions to Seamen to endow a chapel in memory of two of their sons who were killed in action in World War II. The Lee Steere Memorial Chapel was located at the Mariner's House in Fremantle, Perth.[20]

In 1950 she became the patron of the Western Australia Women's Society of Fine Arts and Crafts.[21]

Personal life

She married Ernest Augustus Lee Steere (1866-1957) in 1910. They had five children: their son Ernest Henry Lee-Steere (1912-2011) was a prominent businessman and became Lord Mayor of Perth, and two other sons died in World War II.[22] Her husband was knighted in 1948, making her Lady Lee Steere.[23] She died in Perth, Western Australia, aged 95.

Awards

References
  1. "Ladies' Page". Sunday Times. Perth, Western Australia. 7 August 1910. p. 7.
  2. "Australian women 'slaves'". The Australian Women's Weekly. Sydney, Australia. 10 September 1958. p. 7.
  3. "Lee Steere, Bridget Yelverton" (PDF). slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  4. ""Silver Fish" awarded to Guider". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 8 September 1947. p. 31.
  5. "World Conference". Western Mail. Melbourne, Australia. 24 September 1931. p. 5.
  6. "Scriptures for Scouts". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 24 August 1932. p. 17.
  7. Naie (25 November 1954). "Girl Guides Camp". Collie Mail. Perth, Western Australia. p. 4.
  8. Naie (12 June 1934). "Girl Guides: More Points for Guiders". The Age. Perth, Western Australia. p. 36.
  9. "Girl with monocle – Not masculine affectation". The Daily News. Perth, Western Australia. 9 April 1935. p. 1.
  10. "With Lady Julius". The Australian Women's Weekly. Sydney, Australia: Are Media. May 1937. p. 31.
  11. communications254 (26 November 2014). "Snippets from the past: Girl Guide WA's Cenotaph Flag". ggwa100years.com. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  12. "Helping Bombed Areas". ggwa100years.com. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  13. "Erection of Boyup Brook Girl Guide Building". Blackwood-Warren Sentinel. Bridgetown, WA, Australia. 12 November 1953. p. 5.
  14. "State Commissioner at Collie". Collie Mail. Perth, Western Australia. 22 October 1953. p. 8.
  15. "Guiders Farewell Lady Lee Steere St Meeting". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 17 September 1953. p. 15.
  16. "Register of Places: Assessment Document". www.inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  17. "Exchange Items are Attractive". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 30 July 1954. p. 17.
  18. "Overseas Women Entertained". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 3 September 1949. p. 24.
  19. "J SJ Battye Library of West Australian History Ephemera Collection – Collection Listing" (PDF). www.slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  20. "Mariner's House". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 22 June 1946. p. 10.
  21. "People and Parties". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 3 April 1952. p. 10.
  22. "Personal". The West Australian. 13 March 1948. Retrieved 2 May 2022. new sanctuary of St. Stephen's Church, Toodyay, given by Sir Ernest Lee Steere as a memorial to his two sons who died in World War II
  23. "Two W.A. Knights in Honours List". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 1 January 1948. p. 9.
  24. ""Silver Fish" awarded to Guider". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 8 September 1947. p. 7.
  25. "Queen gives Coronation Medals to many in Western Australia". The West Australian. Perth, Western Australia. 3 June 1953. p. 14.
  26. "Sir Ernest Lee Steere". www.racerate.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
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