Obituaries Australia

Jean Webb, n.d.

photograph privately sourced

Jean Webb was the elder daughter of Alice and James Buchanan.

She attended the Ballarat High School and the Golden Point Methodist Church where she was a Sunday School teacher and pianist.

Jean studied the piano and organ in Ballarat and later at the Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne.

In addition to her Associate Diploma in Music and Licentiate in Music from the Australian Board of Music, she also gained a Licentiate in Music from both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, as well as an Associate Diploma in Music and a Licentiate in Music from the London College of Music.

Though keen to continue her studies in London, it was the height of the Great Depression and her father was in no position to finance additional studies overseas.

She married George Webb in Ballarat on April 21, 1935 and moved with him to Melbourne.

Jean Webb continued her piano playing and for many years was the official accompanist for the Country Women’s Association of Victoria.

The high point in this role came in 1962 when she accompanied the massed choirs of country women of Australia in the Melbourne Town Hall on the occasion of the Tenth Triennial Conference of the Associated Country Women of the World.

Although she travelled the world with her husband on his official duties, at heart she remained a modest and unpretentious person.

In the last decade of her life Jean became a volunteer worker at the North Balwyn Friendship Club run by the North Balwyn Baptist Church.

Once a month she and her close friend Marg Davey, with whom she attended the Ballarat High School, prepared sandwiches for up to 120 elderly people who came to the club every Wednesday – she did this up until the age of 91.

Jean Webb passed away in Melbourne on October 1, 2007 – three weeks after the death of her beloved husband George. Jean Webb will be remembered for her skills as an accompanist, the beautiful gardens which she created around her homes in Melbourne and Hobart, and the music which always filled her home.

She is survived by her two sons, her three grandchildren, and her three great grandchildren.