Leslie Moorhead, O.B.E.

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Leslie was born in Ararat in 1906. Her father, William White, was a local Stock and Station Agent, and her mother was from Port Fairy.

Leslie was the eldest of three, with a sister, Carmel (Pinkie), and brother, Russell.

She attended the local convent school and won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne, where she gained a Bachelor of Arts.

In 1928, Leslie married Arthur Moorhead and together they had four children, Garry, Mary Lou, Carmel (Moodge) and Finola.

Attracted to Mornington in 1930, by Dr Somers, Arthur’s cousin, they stayed here a short time before moving to Gippsland, and then to Sydney until 1940, when they returned to Melbourne.

Some of her achievements were:

Taught at Sacred Heart Convent, Rose Bay, Sydney; Worked as a journalist on The Advocate and The Tribune Catholic newspapers in Melbourne; With Arthur, wrote The Australian Blue Book, a one-volume encyclopaedia; Radio talks for the ABC on advances in medicine; Involved in the establishment of a pre-school at the back of the Methodist Church in Barkly St. In 1982 the Council perpetuated her name, and service to the centre, by naming the re-located pre-school in the Elsie Dorrington Reserve after her; Worked as a journalist on The News and then The Post, where she reported shire meetings that were held in the Mornington Court House; Taught English and Social Studies at Dandenong and Frankston Technical Schools; Awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1975; Involved in the establishment of Mornington High School, and later taught history there until her retirement at the age of seventy in 1977; Member of the Shire of Mornington Welfare Committee; Helped to persuade the Mornington Shire Council to collaborate with the Shire of Flinders in establishing a Regional Library Service;

Member of the Continuing Education Committee of the Frankston State College (now Chisholm Institute); Member of the steering committee of the Mornington Technical School; In 1971, completed a major historical work Mornington: In the Wake of Flinders, in three months; Wrote several other books, including but not limited to Mornington Peninsula: Preserving the Past, Between the Bays, and Gateway to Port Phillip; Wrote a history of the Catholic Church in Mornington, histories of many local schools, and several other “histories”; Foundation President of the Mornington and District Historical Society (1964); Foundation member of the South Eastern Historical Association and President for many years; Member of the National Trust of Australia (Vic), and was influential in saving The Briars; Facilitated evening courses in local history at the Peninsula School, Mt Eliza and at the old Mornington Post Office; Member of the Mornington Peninsula Art Centre and from 1973-81 was President of the Gallery Society; and Member of the Soroptomists (club for professional and executive businesswomen) for thirty years.

The journalist, historian, educator, philosopher, and voluntary social worker died in 1983, and is buried in Mornington Cemetery.