Diana Gibson AO

Diana Gibson has a long family connection to the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV). Growing up, she lived with her grandparents after her mother died when Diana was just a baby. Her grandparents were heavily involved with RASV. Diana’s grandfather – Sir William Angliss – was a councillor and became one of the most prominent and influential men in the Australian meat industry.

Diana’s father, David Knox, became involved with RASV through his father-in-law’s connections. Himself an avid horse rider, David also became a councillor of RASV. He was particularly involved in horse-related activities and helped reintroduce the tent pegging competition at the Royal Melbourne Show. After his death, Diana commissioned a bronze sculpture of her father and one of his horses for the showgrounds. Describing the statue, Diana says:

Well it’s of this beautiful horse that he often rode, it’s taken from a photo of him on a horse that he often rode. It shows his closeness to horses and his gentleness and his kindness with horses.

Diana’s connection with RASV did not end there. Her former husband Adrian Gibson was also heavily involved as both a councillor and two-time Vice President. It was a busy time for the whole family, as Diana recalls:

Well, there were a lot of functions, especially when he was Vice President. Every day there’d be two or three functions. And we had three little girls [who] were young in those days. By then we’d built a home in Balwyn, we lived partly between Bacchus Marsh and Balwyn, so I spent a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing, coming back to Balwyn, going back to the RAS during the day and going back for the night function. It was quite exhausting.

Together, Diana and Adrian also bred and showed Hereford cattle, winning a number of prizes over the years at the Royal Melbourne Show. Diana remained a strong supporter of the Show and RASV. In the 1970s she sponsored a prize for the Arts Pavilion – the William Angliss Art Prize – which was offered for a number of years.