Olga
Ora
Blamey
OBE
formerly Farnsworth aka Lady Blamey
Born in Victoria, Australia
Ancestors 
Daughter of Henry Richard Farnsworth
and Isabel Agatha (Renn) Farnsworth
Sister of
Ruby Dagmar Mary Farnsworth and William Henry Joseph Farnsworth
Wife of
Thomas Albert Blamey GBE KCB
— married
5 Apr 1939 in Toorak, Victoria, Australia
Died
at about age 65
in Toorak, Victoria, Australia
Profile last modified
| Created 13 May 2018
This page has been accessed 511 times.
Biography
Olga Ora Farnsworth OBE was born in 1902 in Victoria, Australia. She was the younger daughter of Henry Farnsworth and Isabel Renn.[1]
Olga worked as a designer of fashion advertisements for the local Melbourne press.
She married Great War Brigadier General and former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, on 5th April 1939 in St John's Church of England, Toorak, Victoria.[2] Upon the marriage Olga became Lady Olga Blamey. Although having no children of her own, Olga became stepmother to soldier / solicitor, Thomas Raymond Blamey.
As Lady Blamey, throughout the Second World War, Olga acted as a hospital visitor for the Red Cross; comforting the wounded, writing letters home for those unable to write for themselves and generally catering for the day-to-day needs of Australia’s troops. From Palestine in 1940, to looking after Australia’s POWs at Changi prison after the war, she was unstinting in her efforts on “our boys” behalf, and gained fulsome praise for her efforts from the Army and the Red Cross. Olga was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1945.
Olga wrote a biography, Shellfire and Orchids, of her late husband in the early 1950s, however Angus and Robertson declined to publish the manuscript. The manuscript is said to provide a fascinating insight into what it meant to be in love with a powerful military figure. It contains many heart-wrenching passages describing the damaging effects of war on men, especially her husband Tom. There are also many humorous moments among the tragedies and her unswerving loyalty to Tom and to the Red Cross is particularly evident.[3]
Lady Blamey OBE passed away on 1st January 1967 in Victoria and is buried in Fawkner Memorial Park.[4]
Sources
- ↑ Victoria Birth index #15134/1902
- ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #5465/1939
- ↑ Lady Blamey: Shellfire and Orchids]
- ↑ Victoria Death Index #4295/1967
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