Obituaries Australia

Mrs. Martha Ravenshaw Whitlam, wife of a former Crown Solocitor, Mr. Frederick Whitlam, died yesterday morning in the Canberra Community Hospital, aged 67.

Mrs. Whitlam, who had been a resident of Canberra for 30 years, was born in Victoria. She was a fourth generation Australian.

She and her children came to Canberra in 1928, when she joined her husband who had come with the first influx of public servants after the opening of Parliament in the previous year.

They were one of the very few families to be transferred from Sydney to Canberra at the time.

While her children were at school, Mrs. Whitlam was an active worker for the Canberra Grammar School and the Church of England Girls' Grammar School.

After Mr. Whitlam's retirement as Crown Solicitor in 1949, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlam continued to live in their home in Deakin.

Mrs. Whitlam is survived by her husband, one son, Gough, who is a member of the House of Representatives for Werriwa, and one daughter, Freda, who is the principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Croydon.

The remains will be cremated in Sydney tomorrow.