Quick question – who was the 25th Governor-General of Australia?

If you answered Quentin Bryce, you are of course correct. Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce AD, CVO (née Strachan) born 23 December 1942, was the 25th Governor-General of Australia, holding office from September 2008 until March 2014. 

Dame Quentin was the first woman to hold the position and previously served as the Governor of Queensland from 2003 to 2008.

Born in Brisbane, Quentin Bryce was raised in Ilfracombe, with her family subsequently living in a number of country towns around Australia.

She attended the University of Queensland, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws, becoming one of the first women accepted to the Queensland Bar.

Throughout her life, Dame Quentin has been a prolific letter writer and now we can learn more about this outstanding woman from the letters she wrote and received as the Governor-General during her six-year term.

This book is presented in glorious colour with numerous photographs, reproductions of Quentin’s letters and personal stories behind the correspondence.

As Australia’s first female Governor-General, Quentin Bryce handwrote more than fifty letters each week. She wrote to those she had met and connected with as her role took her from palaces to outback schools, from war zones to memorials, from intimate audiences to lavish ceremonies. She received even more letters from every corner of the country.

Generous, witty and always heartfelt, her letter-writing skills were honed at boarding school, from where she would write to her parents every Sunday.

Dear Quentin is a rich collection of the letters the Governor-General wrote and received during her six-year term to prime ministers Rudd and Gillard, VC Mark Donaldson, pals Anne Summers and Wendy McCarthy, Indigenous elders, war vets, Girl Guides, grandchildren, as well as the proud owner of a calf called Quentin.

Royalties from this book will be donated to Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, making a real difference to child health through world-leading research and disease prevention.

Dear Quentin: Letters of a Governor General is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.