Dame Elizabeth Joy Murdoch

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Murdoch_(philanthropist%29

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, AC, DBE (8 February 1909 – 5 December 2012) was an Australian philanthropist. She was the widow of Australian newspaper publisher Sir Keith Murdoch and the mother of international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch. When Keith Murdoch was knighted, in 1933, she was styled Lady Murdoch. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1963 and was styled as Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

Murdoch was born as Elisabeth Joy Greene in Melbourne, the third daughter of Marie Grace de Lancey (Forth) and Rupert Greene. Her grandfather, William Henry Greene, was an Irish railway engineer (later one of the three Commissioners of Victorian Railways) who emigrated to Australia and married Fanny, the fourth of the 10 daughters of George Govett. Her mother's ancestors were Scottish and English; one of her maternal great-grandfathers was a lieutenant governor in the West Indies. Elisabeth was educated at St Catherine's School in Toorak, and at Clyde School in Woodend. She married Keith Murdoch, 23 years her senior, in 1928 and inherited the bulk of his fortune when he died in 1952. Apart from Rupert, her children are Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor and Helen Handbury (1929–2004). At the time of a 2003 interview she had 73 descendants. Her namesake granddaughter, Elisabeth Murdoch, was prominent in the British business world and was married to Matthew Freud.

Born Elisabeth Joy Greene 8 February 1909 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Died 5 December 2012 (aged 103) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Nationality Australian

Occupation Philanthropist

Spouse(s) Keith Murdoch (m.1928–1952)

Children

• Helen Handbury (deceased)
• Rupert Murdoch
• Anne Kantor
• Janet Calvert-Jones

Parents

• Rupert Greene
• Marie Grace De Lancey Forth

Relatives

• Prue Murdoch (granddaughter)
• Elisabeth Murdoch (granddaughter)
• Lachlan Murdoch (grandson)
• James Murdoch (grandson)
• Grace Murdoch (granddaughter)
• Chloe Murdoch (granddaughter)
• Wendi Deng (daughter-in-law)
• Alasdair MacLeod (grandson-in-law)
• Matthew Freud (grandson-in-law)