Maude Bonney On 27 September 1932, Maude Bonney became the first woman to fly around Australia. Maude Rose ‘Lores’ Rubens was born on 20 November 1897 in Pretoria, South African Republic, the only child of German-born Norbert Albert Rubens, a clerk and later a merchant, and his locally born wife Rosa Caroline, formerly Staal, née … Continue reading On this day (Australia): In 1932, Maude Bonney became the first woman to fly around Australia