• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE6427

Mayo, Florence Josephine

  • Birth name Roberts, Florence Josephine
(1886 – 1965)
  • Born 14 August, 1886, Carlton Victoria Australia
  • Died 8 June, 1965, Queanbeyan New South Wales Australia
  • Occupation Single mother, War widow

Summary

During World War I, Queanbeyan citizens, at a public meeting held soon after news that her husband, Private John Charles Mayo, had been killed in action at Bullecourt in 1917, decided to provide a home for Florence Mayo and her two young daughters. Raising money proved more difficult than expected and Florence, described as ‘a plucky woman’, partly financed her land and weatherboard cottage by taking out a mortgage. She lived in Queanbeyan for the rest of her life.

Read a longer essay on Florence Mayo in the online exhibition War Widows of the ACT: A Forgotten Legacy of World War I.

Archival resources

  • National Archives of Australia, Sydney Office
    • Mayo, Florence Josephine, beneficiary of Mayo, John Charles - service number - 5402