Paquita Mawson
Francisca Adriana Mawson OBE | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francisca Adriana Delprat 19 August 1891 Acton, London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 26 May 1974 (aged 82) |
| Resting place | Brighton, South Australia |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation(s) | Charity worker, biographer |
| Spouse | Douglas Mawson (m. 1914) |
| Children | |
| Father | Guillaume Daniel Delprat |
Francisca Adriana "Paquita" Mawson OBE (née Delprat; 19 August 1891 – 26 May 1974) was an Australian charity worker and biographer. Having married geologist and Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson in 1914, she was also known as Lady Mawson.
Early life and education
Francisca Adriana Delprat, known as "Paquita" (a diminutive of Francisca[1]) from a young age, was born in Acton, London, on 19 August 1891 of Dutch parents. She was daughter of Henrietta Marie Wilhelmine Sophia (née Jas) and engineer Guillaume Daniel Delprat,[2] who later became general manager of BHP and established its reputation as the leading steelmaker in Australia.[3] The family soon moved to Andalusia in Spain, where Delprat worked until accepting a job with BHP and migrating to Australia in 1898.[2]
Mawson was educated at a convent school in Broken Hill but the family moved to Adelaide in 1902, where she attended Tormore House School. Leaving school in 1908, she attended the Elder Conservatorium of Music, learning piano and singing.[2]
Life
Mawson married Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson in 1914. Leaving their first daughter Patricia (1915–1999, later a leading zoologist) with her mother, she sailed to England where Douglas was working for the Ministry of Munitions. She supported him with secretarial work and also prepared hospital dressings. Their second daughter Jessica was born in 1917. After WWI ended, they came back to Australia and settled in Adelaide.[2]
Home in Adelaide, she joined and participated in the University Wives' Club, the Lyceum Club and the Queen Adelaide Club. She served as president of the Mothers' and Babies' Health Association and actively promoted baby care across the State. She also raised funds for a various causes, sometimes by using her organising skills to arrange concerts.[4]
As a member of the South Australian Red Cross during WWII, Mawson ran extensive appeals for clothing donations. The branch was responsible for sending over 3,000 cases of clothing to the UK. Her welfare work included assisting women and children who were brought to Australia as refugees. She established a club for refugees from the Dutch East Indies and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1946 for that work.[4] She recognised for her social welfare work in the 1951 Birthday Honours, becoming an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[5]
She wrote a biography of her father titled A Vision of Steel: The Life of G. D. Delprat. It was published by Cheshire in 1958 and reviewed on the "Red Page" The Bulletin and elsewhere.[6] Following her husband's death, she wrote about him in Mawson of the Antarctic, published in 1964 by Longmans in London.[7]
Death and legacy
Mawson died on 26 May 1974. She was buried alongside her husband at St Jude's Anglican Church, Brighton, South Australia.[8]
A portrait of Mawson, painted by Ingrid Erns in the late 1940s, is held in the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.[9] She was the subject of her great-nephew Paul Delprat's 1966 Archibald entry, Lady Paquita Mawson.[10]
References
- ^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Paquita". Behind the Name. 16 November 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
- ^ a b c d McEwin, Emma; Whittle, Nancy Robinson, "Francisca Adriana (Paquita) Mawson (1891–1974)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 26 December 2024, retrieved 22 July 2025
- ^ Osborne, Graeme, "Guillaume Daniel Delprat (1856–1937)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, archived from the original on 12 June 2025, retrieved 22 July 2025
- ^ a b Swain, Shurlee. "Mawson, Francisca Adriana". The Australian Women's Register. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Eight Women Mentioned In Honors List". The Farmer & Settler. Vol. XLVI, no. 19. New South Wales, Australia. 8 June 1951. p. 13. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Delprat of the B.H.P." The Bulletin. 79 (4089): 2. 25 June 1958. Retrieved 22 July 2025 – via Trove.
- ^ Mawson, Paquita. "Mawson of the Antarctic: The life of Sir Douglas Mawson, F.R.S., O.B.E." National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 19 May 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Dutch-Australian writer Francisca (Paquita) Delprat (wife of explorer David Mawson)". Dutch Australia Cultural Centre. 11 March 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Paquita Mawson, late 1940s". National Portrait Gallery collection. Archived from the original on 18 May 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Archibald Prize Archibald 1966 work: Lady Paquita Mawson by Paul Delprat". Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
Further reading
- Flannery, Nancy Robinson, ed. (2005). This Everlasting Silence: The love letters of Paquita Delprat and Douglas Mawson, 1911–1914 (1st ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing. ISBN 978-0-522-85191-5.