Lady Deborah Vernon Hackett (1887–1965) was a mining company director and philanthropist. She grew up in Western Australia, where in 1905 she married John Winthrop Hackett, newspaper proprietor and politician. During the First World War she raised funds for the war effort and wrote The Australian Household Guide, the profits from which went to various charities. Widowed in 1916, she moved to Adelaide and married Frank Moulden, who was made Mayor of Adelaide a few years later. As Lady Mayoress she raised enormous sums for Adelaide's charities. In 1923 she became interested in tantalite, a scarce mineral. After visiting potential sites in in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, she travelled to the USA to secure a contract to supply ore. She incorporated Tantalite Ltd while living in London in 1932. After Frank died she married barrister Basil Buller Murphy and lived in Melbourne, raising funds for the women's auxiliaries of various hospitals and serving on diverse welfare committees.
Deborah's first husband John Winthrop Hackett was a patron of artist Florence Fuller, and it is said that he and Deborah are portrayed in her 1905 masterpiece A Golden Hour. In this portrait, Fuller has captured her young sitter's beauty and elegance, while also revealing her intelligence and determination through her direct gaze.
Purchased with funds provided by Marilyn Darling AC 2005
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