Aileen Elizabeth Lynch (1898–1983) was an Australian public servant and Women's Land Army superintendent in New South Wales.Scott, Jean (1995), Girls With Grit: Memories of the Australian Women's Land Army (Second Edition), St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Family She was born Elizabeth Eileen Ryan on 15 May 1898 in Waverley, Sydney. She was the daughter of Irish immigrants Patrick Joseph Ryan (1865-1939), a sewage labourer,Deaths: Ryan, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Monday, 21 August 1939), p. 10. and Mary Elizabeth Ryan (1867-1947), née Murphy.Deaths: Ryan, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 10 July 1947), p. 24.
She married Francis Swinburn Lynch (1898-1970),Deaths: Lynch, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Thursday, 23 July 1970), p. 34. a cable clerk, on 1 October 1927. The couple had no children.Morgan, Christopher (2001), Castle, Kit Bag and Cattle Truck: The Australia Women's Land Army at Abercrombie House, Bathurst, Manly, NSW: The Runciman Press.
Education She studied at the St. Clare's Convent in Waverley.
Career In 1917 she began work as a typist at the Department of Public Works for the New South Wales Public Service.Promoted as "Shorthand Writer and Typist" in March 1920: Department of Public Works, Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, No.164, (Friday, 10 September 1920), p 5427. In 1924 she started working for the Premier's Department,Appointments, Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, No.76, (Friday, 13 June 1924), p 2773. first as a part of the migration agreement executive committee, and later in the ministerial office.
In 1941, World War II began and she became part of the Women's Auxiliary National Service, serving as the officer-in-charge of headquarters administration. In 1942 Lynch was appointed to work at the Directorate of Manpower, where she worked closely with land armies. A few months later she was made Superintendent of the Australian Women's Land Army in New South Wales.Women's Land Army, The Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday, 20 March 1943), p.5.
In 1946, with the close of World War II, she returned to the Permier's Department and continued to work there until her resignation in 1947.Resignations: Premier's Department, Supplement to the Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, No.67, (Friday, 30 May 1947), p.1319. She temporarily worked for the Child and Welfare department from 1960 to 1963.
Death She died in Waverton, New South Wales on 20 January 1983 and was cremated.
Footnotes
References Servicewomen's Farewell, The Australian Women's Weekly, (Saturday, 19 May 1945), p.24.
External links Aileen Lynch in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Lynch, Aileen Elizabeth (1898-1983): The Australian Women's Register.