Australian Dictionary of Biography

Jeanette Buckham, no date.

Pymble Ladies' College Archive

Jeanette Mary Landell Buckham (1926–2000), school principal, was born on 29 May 1926 at St Kilda, Melbourne, only child of John Buckham, baker, and his wife Ellen May, née Smale. Educated at Glen Iris Primary School and Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC), Melbourne, Jeanette attended the University of Melbourne (BA, 1947; DipEd, 1947), studying history and geography. She was registered to teach in Victoria in 1948, and that year began her career at PLC Melbourne, where she taught geography until 1955. From 1953 to 1955 she was also a lecturer at Mercer House (Associated Teachers’ Training Institute).

In 1956, at the age of twenty-nine, Buckham became principal of PLC Goulburn, New South Wales. The school catered to girls from kindergarten to the final high school years. By 1964 it included three science laboratories, separate art and pottery rooms, a domestic science section, a modern library, and extensive sporting facilities. Then, in 1968, she became principal of PLC Pymble, Sydney, later renamed Pymble Ladies’ College in 1977 following the creation of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Buckham was a builder, and, under her leadership, PLC Pymble expanded. The number of classrooms increased; renovations of the three main boarding houses were carried out; and several other buildings and facilities were added. These included the Ferguson Building (1970), the Isabel McKinney Harrison Library (1974), the John Reid Building (1981), a new fifty-metre swimming pool (1983), and the Jeanette Buckham Centre for Physical Education (1983). A new principal’s residence was also built after the old one burnt down in 1976, causing the loss of most of her personal possessions. She also increased the school student body: the year before she took over the number of ex-students was 6,600, while in 1989 there were 12,200.

Recognising the importance of sport in girls’ education, Buckham championed it. During her time at Pymble, the school developed some of the best facilities in the State. She regularly attended the meetings of the Independent Girls’ Schools Sporting Association (IGSSA) to stay informed of decisions about sporting matters. Every Saturday she would attend school matches, carrying her famous portable fold-out seat, known as a ‘shooting stick,’ which enabled her to watch comfortably. Pymble reached new heights in sporting achievement and, in the final year of her headship, the school ‘won every top level of sport in the [IGSSA]’ (Moore, pers. comm.).

Buckham remained at Pymble until 1989, becoming only the second principal to lead the school for more than twenty years, following her predecessor, Dorothy Knox. Over that time she had taken a keen interest in all her students and made every effort to know their names. Her ex-pupils recalled her as someone who encouraged their self-reliance and a belief that they could undertake any career, as well as encouraging a love of art, learning, and community engagement. Of her principalship she reflected that ‘it has been the most challenging, exciting, busy, satisfying and rewarding adventure of my life so far’ (Coleman 1991, 127). One member of the school council, M. D. Ireland, said that she possessed ‘an exceptional talent … as a teacher, a leader of teachers and as an administrator of what on any view is a very substantial enterprise’ (Pymbulletin 1989, 2). Her own view was that she was ‘an ordinary soul who happens to like being a teacher’ (Editor 1989, 29). She was appointed AM in 1989.

Buckham was active in her professional community, including the Association of Heads of Independent Girls’ Schools. She not only served as secretary of the national body, and as a member of its standing committee (1976–82), but also as president, vice president, and secretary of the New South Wales branch. Her other service commitments included as vice-president of the Australian College of Education in 1963; as a council member of the Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales (1967–82); as a member of the New South Wales Higher School certificate geography syllabus committee; and on the council of Dunmore Lang College at Macquarie University (1968–82). In 1974 she became a fellow of the Australian College of Education.

After her retirement, which Buckham marked with the planting of a Bunya Bunya pine in the school grounds, she settled at Buderim, Queensland. There she pursued her love of community service and water sports, especially body surfing. She served as vice-president of the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club and was also on the council of Matthew Flinders Anglican College. In 1998 she was diagnosed with cancer. She was cared for by her long-time colleague and friend Susan Ollerenshaw, with whom she had holidayed annually during the summer.

Possessed of a forthright, fun-loving, and vibrant personality, Buckham was of short stature, with brown hair and twinkly blue eyes. Known affectionately as ‘Bucky,’ she had wide interests, including car racing, antiques, paintings, travel, books, and especially opera. She died on Jacaranda Day, 23 November 2000, a special day of service in the Pymble calendar, at Buderim, and was cremated. Her funeral, planned meticulously by herself and held at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Buderim, drew an attendance reflective of the impact she had on her local community. On 6 December a memorial service was held at the Pymble Ladies’ College chapel. Her memory is preserved at the school not only by the Jeanette Buckham Centre for Physical Education, but also by her portrait, and by the ‘The Getting of Wisdom’ stained glass window in the chapel, which also reflects her own schooling at PLC Melbourne.