• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0443

Palmer, Helen Gwynneth

(1917 – 1979) In the outdoors
  • Born 9 May 1917, Kew, Victoria, Australia
  • Died 6 May 1979, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Occupation Political activist, Teacher, Writer

Summary

The second daughter of Vance and Nettie (née Higgins) Palmer, Helen Palmer spent a year in London after being educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (Melbourne) where she was dux in 1934. Returning to Melbourne she won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BA and DipEd in 1939. She later obtained a B.Ed. (1952). From 1940 until 1942 she was a teacher in Victorian State schools.

Helen Palmer enlisted in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force on 18 February 1942 and during her service worked in the education division. After the war she worked with the Commonwealth Office of Education (Sydney). In 1948 she returned to Melbourne teaching in private schools.

She made several trips to China and in 1953 published her observations in An Australian Teacher in China. Through the bi-monthly publication Outlook (1957-1970), Helen Palmer provided a forum for vigorous discussion of all issues which were part of a radical critique of Australian politics and society.

The author (with Jessie MacLeod) of First Hundred Years (1954) and After the First Hundred Years (1961), she also authored books on Australian literature, popular culture and history. Helen Palmer was also a prominent poet and balladist and is remembered for ‘The Ballard of 1891,’ that describes the shearers’ strike.

Helen Palmer died on 6 May 1979.

Archival resources

  • National Archives of Australia, National Office, Canberra
    • Helen Gwynneth Palmer - Volume 4
    • Helen Gwynneth Palmer - Volume 2
    • Helen G. Palmer - complaint re wharf officials
    • Applications for positions by Palmer, Helen Gwynneth Miss
    • AUTHOR Helen Gwynneth Palmer and Ronald James Grant Taylor : ADDRESS Kirribilli and Melbourne : TITLE OF WORK Prisoners' Country : TYPE OF WORK Dramatic
    • Helen Gwynneth Palmer - Volume 3
    • PALMER HELEN GWYNNETH : Service Number - 350207 : Date of birth - 09 May 1917 : Place of birth - KEW VIC : Place of enlistment - MELBOURNE : Next of Kin - PALMER VANCE
    • Helen Gwynneth Palmer - Volume 1
  • Australian War Memorial, Research Centre
    • [Department of Information - Broadcasting Division:] Talks by Helen Palmer (Sep 1943) [transcripts]
    • [Official History, 1914-18 War: Records of Charles E W Bean, Official Historian:]
    • In the outdoors, the Director WAAAF, Group Officer Clare Stevenson, and a WAAAF Wing Officer conversing with WAAAF officers who conducted a four-day bivouac.
  • National Library of Australia
    • [Biographical cuttings on Helen Palmer, writer and educationalist, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]
  • National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
    • Papers of Aileen and Helen Palmer [19--] [manuscript]
    • Papers of Helen Palmer, 1918-1996 [manuscript]
    • Papers of Aileen Palmer, 1935-1979 [manuscript]
    • Thesis and correspondence 1934-1967 [manuscript]
  • State Library of New South Wales
    • Audrey Blake - further papers, 1915-1998

Digital resources

In the outdoors
  • Title: In the outdoors
  • Type: Image
  • Description: In the outdoors, the Director WAAAF, Group Officer Clare Stevenson (second from left) and a WAAAF Wing Officer (in dark uniform) conversing with WAAAF officers who conducted a four-day bivouac for a group of WAAAF officer trainees in an area near Launching Place, as part of their training course. Third from the left is Squadron Officer Margaret Blackwood, the officer in charge of the bivouac and on the extreme right is Flight Officer Doris Carter, a staff instructor for the bivouac. On the latter's right is her assistant, Section Officer Helen Palmer.
  • Date: 3 May, 2023

Published resources

  • Resource
  • Resource Section
  • Book Section
    • Helen Palmer, Keene, Judith, 1989
  • Book
    • Banjo' Paterson, Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979, [1966]
    • W.G. Spence and the rise of the trade unions, Palmer, Helen G. and MacLeod, Jessie, [1964]
    • Our sugar, Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979, 1949
    • Makers of the first hundred years, Palmer, Helen G. and MacLeod, Jessie, 1956
    • Beneath the Southern Cross, Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979, [1954]
    • After the first hundred years, Palmer, Helen G. and MacLeod, Jessie, [1961]
    • Fencing Australia, Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979, [1961]
    • Helen Palmer's outlook, Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979, 1982
    • The first hundred years, Palmer, Helen G. and MacLeod, Jessie, 1954
    • The first two hundred years, Palmer, Helen G. and MacLeod, Jessie, 1981
    • 150 years, 150 stories: brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne, Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter, 2003
  • Sound recording
    • [Conversation with Helen Palmer], Berg, Hazel de (interviewer), 1974
  • Edited Book
    • Double Time: Women in Victoria - 150 Years, Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley, 1985
    • 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Radi, Heather, 1988

Related entries


  • Related Organisations
    • Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) (1941 - 1947)
    • Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne (1875 - )
    • Fort Street Girls' High School (1911 - 1975)
  • Daughter
    • Palmer, Janet Gertrude (Nettie) (1885 - 1964)
  • Colleague
    • Bardsley, Grace (1920 - 1972)
  • Sister
    • Palmer, Aileen Yvonne (1915 - 1988)

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