The Australian Women's Register

On 1 June 1953 May Douglas was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition for her service as Commissioner of Girl Guides in South Australia. She was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 1997 for service to veterans, particularly through the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps Association, and the Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Celebrations.

Made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) on 9 June 1980, Lady Cutler had previously been awarded Dame of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1977) and Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1965).

Helen Morris married Roden Cutler (Governor New South Wales (NSW) 1966-1981) on 28 May 1946 and they had four sons. She was educated at Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School and served with the Australian Women’s Army Service from 1942 to 1946.

Patron of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (NSW), Lady Cutler received an Honorary Fellow from the NSW College of Nursing. She was President of the NSW Division of the Save the Children Fund, Vice-President of the Girl Guides’ Association (NSW), Vice-President of the St John Ambulance Brigade and Honorary Colonel of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps 1967 to 1985.

A member of the New South Wales Army Nursing Service Reserve (NSWANSR), Bessie Pocock served in the Boer War. She was awarded the Queen’s and the King’s South Africa medals and mentioned in despatches. Once again Pocock enlisted in the defence force at the outbreak of World War I. Serving in Cairo and Ismailia (Egypt) Pocock was later a matron on hospital ships. On 2 May 1916 Bessie Pocock was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal (2nd class) for her service with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS).

Dorothy Cawood commenced her nursing training in 1909, and on 14 November 1914 enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). On 22 July 1917, while attached to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Armentieres, Cawood along with two other sisters, Clare Deacon and Alice Ross-King (later Appleford), evacuated patients from burning buildings while the station was being bombed. All three sisters were awarded Military Medals for their action. Later, while stationed at the 6th Australian General Hospital, Cawood was mentioned in despatches for ‘distinguished and gallant service in the field’. At the end of the war, Cawood joined the nursing staff at the State Hospital (Liverpool) and in 1928 became matron at the David Berry Hospital, Berry, a position she held until her retirement in 1943.

Dorothy Cawood never married and died on 16 February 1962.

Orphaned at the age of five, Ethel Davidson grew up with her half-brothers and sisters – children from her father’s first marriage. After completing her nursing training at Adelaide Hospital, she worked in district and private nursing.

In 1904 Davidson became a reserve member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914. During World War I she was stationed at Mena, Cairo, where she was mentioned in despatches. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal, 2nd class, for her nursing service in England and France. On 3 June 1919 Davidson was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Military) for services to army nursing.

After leaving the army, Davidson became matron of the military hospital at Keswick (SA), a post she held until her retirement in 1933. From 1922 to 1926 she was president of the Returned Army Nurses’ Association of South Australia. In 1924 the Association became a sub-branch of the Returned Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League.

Ethel Davidson never married and died on 21 April 1939. She is buried in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) cemetery, West Terrace, Adelaide.

On 26 January 1997, June Stone was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to veterans particularly through the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations (New South Wales) and the Royal Australian Air Force Association State Council. She had previously been appointed to the Order of the British Empire (Civil) (BEM) on 12 June 1976.

In October 2002 June Stone became a member of the working group for the “Australian Women in War Project.”

Major Joyce Whitworth was Assistant Commander, Eastern Command New South Wales (NSW), Australian Women’s Army Service. She was discharged from the Army Service on 27 June 1946. From 1959 until 1972 she was President of the Australian Women’s Army Service Association (NSW). On the 21st Anniversary of the Australian Women’s Army Service, Joyce Whitworth planted an Australian Gum (Lemon Eucalyptus) in Hyde Park on the western side of the War Memorial, in the presence of Lt-General Sir John Northcott. For services to the community, Joyce Whitworth was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 8 June 1968. In 1989 Joyce Whitworth became Patron of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations (NSW), a position she held until her death on 19 September 1998.

In 1996, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, Fleur Spitzer was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to women. She was recognised in particular for services to the ageing through the work of the Alma Unit, Australia’s first multidisciplinary research and teaching unit focussing on the health and well-being of women aged 65 years and over. Established in 1993 at the University of Melbourne with an endowment from Spitzer, the Unit moved to Victoria University before closing in 2005.

Dur-e Dara was awarded the Medal of The Order of Australia (OAM) in 1997 for services to the community and promotional and fundraising activities for women’s groups.

The youngest child of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Sir Keith Murdoch, Janet Calvert-Jones follows the family tradition, established by both of her parents, of being involved in business as well as philanthropy.

Joanna Baevski is the granddaughter of Russian migrant Simcha Baevski, better known as Sidney Myer.

The only daughter of Prue Boyd (q.v.) and Kenneth Myer, Joanna Baevski is a Director of The Myer Foundation. She is Vice-President of the Governance Committee, and a member of the Social Justice Committee, the Water Committee and the Environment Grant Making Committee. She represents The Myer Foundation as a council member of the organisation Our Community, and is a board member of Australians for Just Refugee Programs.

A member of Philanthropy Australia, Joanna Baevski is also a supporter of the Victorian Women’s Trust.

Daughter of Douglas and Eina (née Pennicott) Boyd, Prue Boyd was educated at Clyde School, Woodend, Victoria. In 1947 she completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne, and was married to Kenneth Myer that same year. The couple were to have five children: four sons and one daughter, Joanna Baevski (q.v.). Prue Boyd and Kenneth Myer were divorced in 1977.

A council member of St Hilda’s College (University of Melbourne) from 1964 until 1971, Prue obtained her Diploma of Education from Monash University in 1972 and became a tutor at the Council of Education in Melbourne. In 1977 she was appointed as a Director of the Australian Institute of Political Science, and in 1981 was awarded her Master of Laws degree by Monash University.

A member of the Lyceum Club (Melbourne), Prue Boyd’s interests include international affairs – especially Third World development, federalism and the Australian Constitution. She enjoys music, reading, films and theatre.

Lady Marigold Southey has been Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria since January 2001. She is also President of Philanthropy Australia and the St Catherine’s School Foundation. She resigned as President of The Myer Foundation in 2004.

The youngest child of Sidney and Merlyn (née Baillieu) (q.v.) Myer, Marigold – like her three older siblings – was born in San Francisco, California. The family returned to settle in Australia in 1929.

In 1950 Marigold Myer married Ross Shelmerdine (deceased 1979) and they were to have four children. On 22 July 1982 she married Sir Robert Southey, who died in 1998.

Lady Southey is a supporter and Honorary Life Member of the Australian Ballet, Life Member of the Nuffield Farming Scholars Association, and a supporter of Birds Australia. On 7 June 1999, she became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the community in the support of health care, medical research and the arts.

Neilma Gantner, along with her son Carillo and brother Baillieu Myer, established The Gantner Myer Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art. Assembled over a four-year period by curator Jennifer Isaacs, the collection was unveiled in San Francisco in September 1999.

Neilma is the eldest daughter of Sidney and Merlyn (née Baillieu) Myer. Like her three siblings, she was born in San Francisco, California, but raised in Melbourne. Neilma completed her tertiary education at the Universities of Melbourne and Stanford. In 1941 she married Vallejo Gantner (later divorced) and they were to have two sons (one deceased).

Neilma Gantner was a member of the Executive of International Social Service, and of the Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund. She worked as a novelist, poet and short story writer under the pseudonym of Neilma Sidney, and founded the Four Winds Cultural Festival (Bermagui, New South Wales).

The career of Australian tennis player Thelma Coyne Long spanned more than 20 years. The winner of the Australian Women’s Singles title in 1952 and 1954 (aged 35 years) she was also runner-up in 1951, 1955 and 1956. From 1936 until 1940, Thelma Coyne and Nancye Wynne (later Bolton) were Australian Women’s Doubles Champions. During the war years of 1941 to 1945, no competition was held for major Australian tournaments and Long enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS). Following her discharge from the AWAS Long and Nancye Wynne Bolton continued their tennis careers. They won the Australian Doubles 1947-1949 and 1951-1952. Long then joined with Mary Hawton to win the doubles championship in 1956 and 1958 – 20 years after she won the National Junior Singles Championship aged 16. The pair were also runners-up for the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles title in 1957. Long was winner of the Australian Mixed Doubles 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955 and the French Mixed Doubles in 1956.

On 30 August 2000 Long was awarded the Australian Sports Medal and inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.

A life member of the Australian Women’s Army Association (New South Wales) Long was actively involved in the archiving of the association records. In October 2002 she became a participant of the Australian Women in War Project working group.

Amy Taylor was elected Chair of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations in 2005.

The daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Manning, Eleanor Manning was a member of the Women’s Australian National Services and became the most senior officer of the Australian Women’s Army Service in the State of New South Wales.

When the Australian Women’s Army Service was established in October 1941, Manning was appointed Assistant Controller, Eastern Command with the rank of Major. She with other first appointments attended the first Officers Training School held at Yarra Junction, Victoria in November, 1941. At the conclusion of the training, Major Manning returned to Sydney and commenced duty at Headquarters Victoria Barracks, Sydney. She and her staff were responsible for the recruitment and initial training of all Australian Women’s Army Service enlistments in New South Wales.

Other appointments held by Major Manning in the AWAS were:-
– 1943 Deputy Controller to the Controller, Colonel Sybil H Irving MBE, Australian Women’s Army Service, at their Headquarters in Melbourne.
– Commanding Officer, Australian Women’s Services Officers’ School, Darley, Victoria. This post combined the training of both the Australian Women’s Army Service and the Australian Army Medical Women Service Officers, and she remained there until the termination of her appointment.

On the 13 June 1959, Eleanor Manning was appointed an Officer to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services as Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association of Australia.

Margaret Anderson enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service at Dandenong (Victoria) on 19 September 1941.

On 12 February 1942, three days before the fall of Singapore, the freighter, Empire Star sailed from Singapore Harbour. The ship which normally had an allocation of space for 20 passengers was carrying over 2100 people. While on route to Batavia the ship came under enemy fire and received three direct hits. During one of the raids two of the Australian nursing staff on board, Sisters Margaret Anderson and Vera Torney, came on deck to attend to the wounded. They protected their patients by covering them with their bodies.

Staff Nurse Margaret Anderson was awarded the George Medal on 22 September 1942 for her bravery when the ship was attacked by enemy aircraft. Staff Nurse Vera Torney was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military).

On 4 June 1946 Lieutenant Margaret Anderson was discharged from the Australian Army Nursing Service.

Originally a ballerina in Perth, Western Australia, Joan Dowson served throughout World War II as a nurse. She continued her association with the Australian Red Cross throughout her life.

Formerly President of the War Widows’ Guild of South Australia, Janet Mayo was elected National President of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia following the death of her predecessor, Jessie Vasey, in 1966.

Dr Rhonda Sharp is a leader in the field of feminist economics, nationally and internationally, in both academia and applied policy work.

The second daughter of Vance and Nettie (née Higgins) Palmer, Helen Palmer spent a year in London after being educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (Melbourne) where she was dux in 1934. Returning to Melbourne she won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BA and DipEd in 1939. She later obtained a B.Ed. (1952). From 1940 until 1942 she was a teacher in Victorian State schools.

Helen Palmer enlisted in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force on 18 February 1942 and during her service worked in the education division. After the war she worked with the Commonwealth Office of Education (Sydney). In 1948 she returned to Melbourne teaching in private schools.

She made several trips to China and in 1953 published her observations in An Australian Teacher in China. Through the bi-monthly publication Outlook (1957-1970), Helen Palmer provided a forum for vigorous discussion of all issues which were part of a radical critique of Australian politics and society.

The author (with Jessie MacLeod) of First Hundred Years (1954) and After the First Hundred Years (1961), she also authored books on Australian literature, popular culture and history. Helen Palmer was also a prominent poet and balladist and is remembered for ‘The Ballard of 1891,’ that describes the shearers’ strike.

Helen Palmer died on 6 May 1979.

Sarina Jan is a Bardi descendent (Nyul Nyul clan) from the Kimberley region (Family name: Hunter) and is strong in her Aboriginality, identity and culture. She is also of Chinese descent and is proud of her Asian ancestry.

Sarina completed her Bachelor of Arts (Public Relations) and Bachelor of Business (Marketing) in 1996 making her the first Aboriginal person in Western Australia to graduate in both of these specialised fields. She later became the first Aboriginal person to become a member of both the Public Relations Institute of Australia and the Australian Marketing Institute.

Amirah Inglis was a devoted and active member of the Communist Party in Australia during the politically turbulent Menzies era. Her autobiographical works describe the difficulties and confusion of growing up a migrant in Australia, born of Polish-Jewish parents. She has also written essays, reviews and books on Papua New Guinea, and on the Spanish Civil War.

The hammer & sickle and the washing up: memories of an Australian woman Communist includes descriptions of Amirah’s life in Canberra in the 1960s, and her marriage to academic Ken Inglis.

Una Boyce was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 10 June 1991 and appointed an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) twenty years earlier, on 1 January 1971, for services to War Widows. She was state secretary of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia (New South Wales) from 1961 until 1989, becoming a life member of the War Widows’ Guild in 2000.

The daughter of Charles and Kate E. D (née Swan) Robertson, Boyce was educated at Abbotsleigh School for Girls, Wahroonga, and completed her education at the University of London. On 26 April 1940 she married war veteran Norman Boyce and the pair had three children. Boyce joined the War Widows’ Guild of Australia (New South Wales) in 1946 after her husband’s death.

Una Boyce enjoyed reading, travel, gardening and music and was a member of the Royal Automobile Association of Australia and Victory Services, London.

The daughter of Alholstane Chase and Rosina (née Sherrin), Elizabeth Burchill completed her education at the Camberwell State School and the Ladies Business College, Melbourne, as well as at Melbourne and Monash Universities.

Before World War II Burchill worked at the Australian Inland Mission, Innamincka, Labrador, Grenfell Mission, and was a member of the British Ambulance Unit, caring for refugee children during the Spanish Civil War. She enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 21 December 1939 and was one of the first nurses from Victoria to go to the Middle East with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force in 1940. After the war she combined nursing with writing – particularly about the area in which she had nursed. Her publications include Australian Nurses since Nightingale: 1860-1990, a largely biographical history published in 1992.

On 8 June 1998, Sister Elizabeth Burchill was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to nursing, particularly as an historian, author and philanthropist. Also she has won the Jessie Lichfield Annual Award and the Veterans’ Affairs Writers Award.

The daughter of R G and F H Anderson, Margaret Darling was educated at St Catherine’s College Toorak. After serving with the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service from 1943 to 1945, she married L G Darling and they had four children. A member of the Alexandra Club (Melbourne), Margaret Darling enjoys travel, gardening, music and country pursuits. On 10 June 1991, Margaret Darling was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the National Trust of Victoria.