Esmé Fenston
Fenston was born Esmé Woolacott on 29 July 1908 in Annandale, New South Wales. She was the youngest child of furniture salesman Henry Lovell Woolacott and Jane Kate (née Wilmot). She completed her secondary education at Sydney Girls High School. She was employed by "The Land" to write "The Countrywoman" and the "Beehive" supplements for the paper, following her marriage in 1930 to Jack Fenston. Fenston joined "The Australian Women's Weekly" in 1938, where she wrote book reviews before becoming a sub-editor soon afterwards. She took over as editor in 1950 when Alice Jackson moved to "The Weekly's" main rival, "Woman's Day". Fenston remained editor of "The Weekly" until her death on 16 April 1972, following a short illness. In the 1967 Queen's Birthday Honours Fenston was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "service to journalism". Fenston Place, in the Canberra suburb of Gilmore, is named in her honour.
Career
She was editor of "The Australian Women's Weekly" for 22 years.