Did You Know?
The inaugural President of the Parents’ and Friends’ association in 1928 was a MOON (Mothers of Old Newingtonians). She was a mother of four Newington sons who left throughout the years 1909 – 1922.
Lady Mary Cook DBE was President of the P&F for three years, at a time when membership was only open to women.
In 1925 she was honoured with a DBE (Damehood of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to the Red Cross Society, and while a parent at the College her husband, Sir Joseph Cook, was Australia’s 6th Prime Minister (1913-1914).
Image: Sir Joseph Cook and Dame Mary Cook on the deck of a ship, National Library of Australia
