d. 2004.
Claire Taylor was a member of the Eastern Suburbs Branch of AFUW-Vic (now Graduate Women Victoria) for many years, serving on the committee and in several of the officebearing positions. She was Victorian President on a number of occasions. She was an active member of the national association, representing Australia at IFUW conferences for many years, and acting as National President in 1980. On her death in 2004, she left a bequest to AFUW Victoria to fund an undergraduate prize.
Her nephew, John Caporn, told us that Claire Taylor studied at the University of Melbourne, graduating as a Bachelor of Agriculture in 1938. She worked for many years with the Commonwealth Department of Supply, assisting them develop equipment to support Australia’s War effort during the Second World War.
She was a keen photographer, travelling extensively through central Australia circa 1954/5. She developed a love of Australian plants, submitting plants at local shows. Never married, in her later years she was closely involved in the education of her nephews and nieces, encouraging a number of them to complete degrees at the University of Melbourne. She continued close ties with Melbourne University throughout her life, following the footsteps of
her parents who both graduated from the University of Melbourne circa 1913.
In her later life she travelled with the Soroptomists to Europe and Scandinavia but was finally
house bound and hospitalised for a number of years. She was a keen supporter of the Women’s Movement throughout her life.
The AFUW Vic newsletter of August 2004 records that:
"Claire is remembered for courage in the face of disability. She served AFUW with rare dedication, never flinching from the responsibilities of office. She was enormously kind, helpful and tactful in her assistance to younger members. She leaves behind a sense of modest, quiet wisdom."
The Claire Taylor prize was awarded in 2007 and 2009 and the Claire Taylor Bursary in
2011.