Betty Fletcher Memorial Fund

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Memorial Plaque for Betty Fletcher, Hinwood, 1991.

The Betty Fletcher Memorial Plaque, mounted on Helidon Free-stone (the same stone used in the University’s Great Court) and featuring an inscription by Professor RD Milns reading:
ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟΣ, ΦΙΛΟΚΑΛΟΣ, ΦΙΛΑΝΘΡΟΠΟΣ.
Lover of Wisdom, Lover of Beauty, Lover of Humanity.
A second edition of this portrait was donated to Somerville House by Mr Owen Fletcher in 1993.

Gift of Dr R Hinwood AM and Mr R Hinwood, 1991.

UQ 14.002

Betty Fletcher was an early member of the UQ Alumni Association, now called Alumni Friends, when it was formed in 1968. In 1988, Betty and her husband Owen were made Honorary Life Members. In the same year, Betty was appointed as Patron of the newly formed Friends of Antiquity group, a special interest group of the Alumni Friends whose mission is to support Classics and Ancient History at the University.

In 1932, Betty had won a scholarship to study at Oxford, but due to the Depression, the offer of free passage to England was withdrawn and she was unable to travel. After Betty’s death in 1991, the Friends of Antiquity and Owen Fletcher established the Betty Fletcher Memorial Fund to maintain a travelling scholarship as a tribute to Betty’s long association with the University, the Discipline of Classics and Ancient History, and the Antiquities Museum. 

Sculptor Dr Rhyl Hinwood AM was commissioned to create a bronze portrait medallion of Betty to commemorate the scholarship’s foundation. The medallion, mounted on Helidon free-stone and accompanied by an inscription, was unveiled at the scholarship launch by Lady Campbell on the 24th of October 1991 at Grace College.

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Alumni News article on the launch of the Betty Fletcher Memorial Fund by the Friends of Antiquity. This fund supports and maintains the Betty Fletcher Memorial Travelling Scholarship.

Source: Alumni News, 1991. Copy from the RD Milns Antiquities Museum Archives.