Shirley Sleigh
Art, Craft & Cookery steward - Despite growing up in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn, Shirley Sleigh had a family connection with agriculture via her father who worked as a wool broker.
Despite growing up in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn, Shirley Sleigh had a family connection with agriculture via her father who worked as a wool broker. Shirley had early memories of visiting the Royal Melbourne Show regularly as a child, but it was after she married grazier John Sleigh in 1954 that her involvement with the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) really began.
Shirley and John bred Poll Hereford cattle at Bayunga, their property at Ngambie in the Goulburn Valley. When John became an RASV councillor, Shirley found herself in need of something to occupy her time while her husband was busy with council business in Melbourne:
I said to (RASV Director) Colin Woodfall, ‘I can't stand this. You won't get me going in here for two weeks, or three weeks, unless you give me a job to do.’ He said, ‘Well would you like to go on the Arts and Crafts?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I'd love to.’
Shirley spent many years organising the Arts and Craft Competition with its extensive list of classes. She found herself working alongside a group of wonderful women, stewardesses and judges, whose skill and knowledge she admired greatly. Shirley herself had a particular interest in children’s artwork and the schools categories.
Shirley also undertook a plethora of duties in her position as RASV President’s wife and she took this role very seriously. Her husband John Sleigh was President from 1986 to 1990 and Shirley believed that her responsibilities as President’s wife were, ‘To communicate. To keep the Show alive.’ Over this time she attended events with her husband at the showgrounds, hosted many overseas dignitaries, royalty, military and police personnel, and ensured that menus and flower arrangements were in order for big occasions. Shirley and John were also involved in Victorian Agricultural Show Societies (VASA) activities and attended a number of Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth international conferences.
In 2003 Shirley’s many years of dedicated work were honoured when she received the President's Medal. Shirley passed away in 2014.