Phyllis Le Cappelaine Burke (27 January 1900 – 20 August 1969), was an English-born Australian market researcher, housing commissioner, civic volunteer and philanthropist. She studied economics at the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in 1922. She served for twenty years on the Housing Commission of New South Wales, and supported numerous social reform causes through her voluntary activities. A devout Catholic, in 1943, she founded Altair, a discussion group for Catholic women who were University graduates. She was also a foundation member of the Sydney chapter of the St. Joan Social and Political Alliance.
Phyllis Le Cappelaine Taylor was born on 27 January 1900, in the town of Maldon, located in the country of Essex, England. Her parents, John Le Cappelaine Taylor (d. 1947)[1] and Bridget Emily Taylor (née Dooley), emigrated to Australia when Phyllis was an infant.[2]
As a young woman, Taylor attended a Catholic school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy in North Sydney. The Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College, as it was known, had been established in 1873. The girls were taught subjects as varied as English, history, geography, math, art, music and needlework.[3] After graduating from secondary school, Taylor attended the University of Sydney, where she earned a Bachelor in Economics in 1922.[4]
Taylor married John Murray Burke on 31 July 1922, in a ceremony held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Sydney. John Murray Burke had served as a private in the infantry in the Australian armed forces during World War I.[5] After the war, he worked as a mercer, selling silk and fabrics. The couple had nine children together.[2]
Drawing on her economics training, Burke worked as a market researcher for various firms, conducting both political and commercial surveys. She was a long-time member of the Economics Society of Australia and New Zealand.[2]
After Australia entered the Second World War, Burke took on several volunteer roles to support the war effort and related causes on the home front. The government renewed the national War Savings Campaign in an effort to encourage Australians to purchase war bonds to help the government raise funds. Burke was appointed as the women's organizer for the campaign in New South Wales. She travelled across the state, and spoke at various functions to encourage women's participation.[6] She also contributed to public initiatives on curbing venereal disease among the military, considering it a public health threat to women.[2] She was later appointed to the Commission of the Peace for New South Wales in 1944.[7]