Myer family

The Myer family is an Australian retailing dynasty. It was founded in Australia by Sidney Myer, who started the department store Myer, and his wife Merlyn Myer.

Biographies

The Australian Dictionary of Biography has articles on the following members of the Myer family:

• Sidney Myer^[1]
• Dame Merlyn Myer^[2]
• Sir Norman Myer^[3]

Extended family

The children of Sidney and Merlyn Myer were;

• Kenneth (Ken) was born on 1 March 1921. In 1947 Ken married Prudence Boyd and they had five children: Joanna,^[4] Michael, Philip, Martyn and Andrew. Together with his brother, Bails, he co-founded the Myer Foundation. On Australia Day 1976 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).^[5] Ken and Prudence were divorced in 1976, and in 1979 he married Yasuko Hiraoka (16 March 1945 – 30 July 1992). He and Yasuko were killed in a light aircraft crash in Alaska on 30 July 1992.^[6] One of Ken's sons, Martyn Myer, has been a Coles Myer director since 1996.
• Neilma (later Neilma Gantner) was born on 7 November 1922. On 8 August 1941, she married Vallejo Gantner in Toorak, Melbourne^[7] (1911–1996) (later divorced)^[8] and they had two sons: Carrillo Gantner and Vallejo.^[9] Vallejo jnr died in a shooting accident in 1962 ^[10] at the age of 19. Along with her son Carillo and brother Baillieu Myer, she established The Gantner Myer Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art, which was assembled over a four-year period by curator Jennifer Isaacs. The collection was unveiled in San Francisco in September 1999. Neilma Gantner was a member of the Executive of International Social Service, and of the Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund. She worked as a novelist, poet and short story writer under the pseudonym of Neilma Sidney, and founded the Four Winds Cultural Festival (Bermagui, New South Wales).^[11] Neilma died at the age of 92, on 15 June 2015.^[12]
• Sidney Baillieu (Bails) was born on 11 January 1926. He married Sarah Hordern, of the retailing Hordern family, and they have three children – Sidney, Samantha and Rupert. Sidney Baillieu Myer is a co-founder and past president of the Myer Foundation. He was a Trustee of the Sidney Myer Fund from 1958 to 2001 and chairman from 1992–2001. He was chairman of The Myer Emporium Limited, president of the Howard Florey Institute and Executive Member of the CSIRO. His career has spanned the fields of business, medical research, aged care, Australia-Asian relations, the arts, conservation, education and rural communities. His commitments and appointments, past and present, include: Patron of Asialink, Patron of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, Trustee Emeritus, National Gallery of Victoria, Director of the Howard Florey Institute, 1971–2002, and President, 1988–1992, Chairman, The Myer Emporium Limited, 1978–1986, Executive Member, CSIRO, 1981–1985. On Australia Day 1990, Sidney Baillieu Myer was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to business and commerce, to government and to the community.^[13] He was made an Honorary Doctor of Law, University of Melbourne, in 1993.^[14] His son, Rupert is currently the Chair, Australia Council for the Arts, 2012- , and a Deputy Chairman of Myer Holdings Limited.
• Marigold Merlyn Baillieu Myer (Lady Southey AC) – Their youngest child was born on 2 May 1928. In 1950, Marigold Myer married Ross Shelmerdine and they had four children. Ross Shelmerdine died in 1979. On 22 July 1982, she married the widowed Sir Robert Southey, who died in 1998. On 7 June 1999, she became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the community in the support of health care, medical research and the arts. Lady Southey was Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria 2001–2006.^[15] She was president of Philanthropy Australia 2000–2006^[16] and the St Catherine's School Foundation. She resigned as president of the Myer Foundation in 2004. Lady Southey is a supporter and Honorary Life Member of the Australian Ballet, Life Member of the Nuffield Farming Scholars Association, and a supporter of Birds Australia.^[17] She was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2006. One of her children, Stephen Shelmerdine AM, is a winemaker

References