- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE0105
Lyons, Enid Muriel
(1897 – 1981)- Nationality Australian
- Born 9 July, 1897, Duck River, Smithton Tasmania Australia
- Died 2 September, 1981, Ulverstone Tasmania Australia
- Occupation Politician
Summary
Dame Enid Lyons AD GBE was the first woman elected to the Australian federal Parliament, in 1943. She was also the first woman in federal Cabinet. She was appointed as a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 11 May 1937 for her public services to Australia and as a Dame of the Order of Australia (AD) on 26 January 1980.
Details
Originally a teacher, Enid had a long-held interest in politics. In 1915 she married Joseph Lyons, who became Prime Minister of Australia in 1931. The couple had 12 children.
In 1943 Enid Lyons was elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Darwin (in Tasmania) as a candidate for the United Australia party, where she demonstrated her concern with issues surrounding maternity care, child endowment, women’s representation in parliament and discrimination in employment.
Events
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2001 - 2001
Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women
Published resources
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Resource
- Significant Tasmanian Women: Dame Enid Lyons AO (1897-1981), First woman to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament, Women Tasmania, 2001, http://www.women.tas.gov.au/significantwomen/search/enidlyons.html
- Trove: Lyons, Enid Muriel (18970709-19810902), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-500895
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Resource Section
- List of Electoral Divisions Named After Women, Australian Electoral Commission, http://www.aec.gov.au/history/women/women3.htm
- Dame Enid Lyons, 2002, http://www.abc.net.au/btn/australians/elyons.htm
- Primary description of person CP 928; Hon Dame Enid Muriel Lyons AD, DBE, National Archives of Australia, http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+928
- Dame Enid Lyons, 2003, http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s951058.htm
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Book
- Australian women writers : a bibliographic guide, Adelaide, Debra, 1988
- Uphill all the way: a documentary history of women in Australia, Daniels, Kay and Murnane, Mary, 1980
- Liberal women : Federation to 1949, Fitzherbert, Margaret, 2004
- No ordinary lives: pioneering women in Australian politics, Jenkins, Cathy, 2008
- The Complete Book of Great Australian Women: Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia, De Vries, Susanna, 2003
- So Many Firsts: Liberal Women from Enid Lyons to the Turnbull Era, Fitzherbert, Margaret, 2009
- Edited Book
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Site Exhibition
- Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989, Australian Women's Archives Project, 2003, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/honours/honours.html
- The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia, Smart, Judith and Swain, Shurlee (eds.), 2014, http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders
Archival resources
- National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
- State Library of South Australia
- National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection
- National Archives of Australia, National Office, Canberra
- State Library of New South Wales