Amelia Lambrick

Amelia Lambrick (23 March 1864 – 27 September 1956) was an Australian public servant, pacifist, and social reformer.^[1] She was President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.^[2]

Amelia Lambrick was born on 23 March 1864 in North Melbourne, Australia, the eldest of five children of Erasmus Pascoe Lambrick and Amelia (née Bertram).^[1] Her parents had been born in Cornwall and Norfolk, England, emigrating to Australia during the 1830s.^[1][3]

Lambrick began working for the Victorian public service in 1886 and, following various positions in the Postmaster General's Department, worked in the Customs Department for 37 years.^[1]

Lambrick was a member of the Theosophical Society (for whom she lectured),^[2] the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (of which she was President of the Victorian branch 1932–36), and the Victorian Citizens' Movement.^[1] She lectured for Vida Goldstein's 1910 election campaign, and contributed to the Socialist using the pseudonym 'Hypatia'.^[1]

During the 1920s and 1930s, Lambrick travelled widely and lectured extensively, including in France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and the British Isles.^[1][2] In 1926, she represented Australia at the congress of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Dublin, Ireland.^[1] A lifelong advocate of peace, she also lectured on nonviolent leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Toyohiko Kagawa.^[4]

Lambrick died at her home at Malvern East on 27 September 1956, and was cremated.^[1]

Lambrick was drawn to theosophy, and believed firmly in the concept of universal brotherhood, which underpinned her activism.^[1] She said: "Peace stands for truth, justice, brotherhood, and these are the foundations of all true civilisation".