The Australian Women's Register

Marianne Rawson gained distinction as a Victorian nursing sister who served in the Boer War and was one of the three Australian nurses to be awarded the Royal Red Cross medal for service in that conflict. She was the lady superintendent of the ten Victorian nurses who sailed for South Africa with the Third (Bushmen’s) Contingent on the Euryalus on 10 March 1900. They went to Rhodesia and served at Salisbury, Fort Charter, Bulawayo, Hillside, Mafeking, Springfontein and Tuli. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross medal on 26 June 1902 for her outstanding work and courage in the care of patients and was Mentioned in Dispatches on 29 July 1902. The Governor of Western Australia presented her with her RRC medal in Kalgoorlie in 1903.

Mary Earle gained recognition for her research in medical health in Western Australia with her appointment as Member of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1976. She developed the use of oral insulin treatment for diabetes and methods of treating migraine and bed-wetting. She has published several booklets on her treatment.

Kathleen Walsh, née Tooth, graduated MB BS from Sydney University in 1939. After specialising in paediatrics she became honorary paediatrician at Ryde District Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, Sydney, and honorary associate physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. Her work in this field of medicine was honoured with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1982.

Kate Mackay, educated at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne and the University of Melbourne, where she graduated MB BS in 1922 and MD in 1924, was acknowledged for her services to medicine with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1977. After positions as resident medical officer at the Royal Melbourne, the Royal Women’s and the Royal Children’s Hospitals, she became the first medical officer to the Department of Labour from 1925-1933 and was woman observer with the Australian Industry delegation to the United States of America in 1927. She maintained a long association with the Queen Victoria Hospital taking up the position of assistant physician to the in-patients in 1929 and becoming physician from 1930-1957. In a pioneering role, she founded the Diabetic Clinic at the same hospital and was its physician-in-charge from 1946-1953, having previously been physician-in-charge of the Diabetic Clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1940-1945. From that position she moved to become consultant physician at the Royal Women’s Hospital from 1945-1973.

Edith Hurman, after commencing her early education in Perth, finished her medical training at Sydney University in 1922 and overcame many obstacles in order to become the first doctor to set up private practice in Cudal, New South Wales in 1925. With Muriel Amanda Rodda, a trained nurse, she was instrumental in the establishment of the town’s hospital in 1928. Edith Hurman remained in Cudal and worked in that hospital until her retirement in 1961. She subsequently wrote a booklet entitled The beginnings, in 1980, in which she told the story of how the Cudal Hospital was established. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to medicine in New South Wales on 1 January 1966.

Moya Bailey, née Blackall, graduated from Sydney University MB BS in 1929 and pursued her obstetric qualifications in England, completing them in 1936. She practiced in the Australian Capital Territory and was an active member of the Canberra Croquet Club for thirty-three years. Her appointment as Member of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1960 was ‘in recognition of her outstanding service for over twenty years to the community of the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding districts as a member of the medical profession, particularly in the field of obstetrics’.

Margaret Sutherland’s life’s work as a composer saw her produce over 90 compositions and attain renown as a pioneer of ‘new music’ and of women’s involvement in music. Her only opera – the Young Kabbarli (1964), based on Daisy Bates – was the first Australian opera recorded in Australia.

Sutherland’s work promoting music and the arts included her years (1943-1956) as an initiator, organiser and secretary for the Combined Arts Centre Movement, a group which worked to promote the formation of a cultural centre in Melbourne after World War II, and her membership of many other councils and organising bodies such as the council of the National Gallery Association of Victoria (1950s-1960s).

Recognition of Sutherland’s prolific life as a composer and champion of the Arts in Australia has included an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Melbourne (1969), the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), and her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1970 and an Officer of the Order of Australia on 8 June 1981.

Claudia Burton-Bradley, with a Bachelor of Arts, and Medicine and Surgery from Sydney University, commenced her medical career at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney in 1943 and joined the Australian Medical Association. Apparently having specialised in orthopaedic surgery, by 1947 she was honorary assistant orthopaedic surgeon at the Rachel Forster Hospital, Sydney. Her major commitment, however, was to the Spastic Centre, Mosman, New South Wales, where she became its medical director from 1945-1962, honorary orthopaedic surgeon from 1949 and director of medical research and development from 1962-1964. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 11 June 1966 for her work as Research Director of the Australian Cerebral Palsy Association.

Nelly Ludbrook, née Woods, was the first South Australian born palaeontologist to demonstrate the importance of palaeontology to the mining industry and founded what is now known as the Biostratigraphy Section of Mines and Energy, South Australia. Interested in geology and palaeontology from her undergraduate years at the University of Adelaide, where she completed Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, she was able to pursue her interest in Cainozoic molluscs when she married Wallis Verco Ludbrook in 1935 and moved to Canberra. She had written a paper on the subject while working as a high school teacher at Mount Barker for which she was awarded the Tate Medal from the University of Adelaide. Her subsequent career included appointment as assistant geologist with the Commonwealth Government from 1942-1949, a period in London from 1950 at the Imperial College where she gained a PhD in geology and the DIC in palaeontology for a study of Pliocene molluscs from strata underlying the Adelaide Plains. On the death of her husband she returned to South Australia in 1952 where she was employed as technical information officer for the Mines Department, and in 1957 was appointed palaeontologist, a position she held until her retirement in 1967 as senior palaeontologist. She published more than 70 scientific papers and monographs, and at least 17 fossil species and one genus of fossil mollusc have been named in her honour. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1981 ‘for service to science’.

Daphne Gum, a trained primary school teacher who developed an interest in working with children with disabilities, became the director of the Spastic Centre established by the Crippled Children’s Association of South Australia in 1946 at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital. Following a temporary move to prefabricated classrooms at Kintore Avenue, the centre finally found a permanent and more spacious home in 1951 on the Anzac Highway at Ashford, and was known as the Ashford House for Cerebral Palsy Children.

Daphne Gum was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1960 for her work with children affected by cerebral palsy. She maintained her connection with her old school, the Methodist Ladies College, serving as president of the Old Scholars Association from 1979-1980 and wrote a history entitled A rich tapestry of lives, to celebrate the school’s ninetieth birthday.

Jean Littlejohn, educated in Melbourne at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College and the University of Melbourne, made an outstanding contribution to ear, nose and throat surgery as honorary consultant, ear nose and throat, at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. She was the first woman elected to the Medical Faculty at the University of Melbourne in 1947. Her work was acknowledged initially with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in June 1962 for services to the deaf in Victoria, and again as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 1975 for services to medicine.

Helen MacKenzie, a child of Presbyterian missionaries, completed her medical degree at the University of Melbourne in 1938 with the intention of going to Korea to work as a missionary in 1941. With the interruption of World War II she instead remained at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne, from 1940-1944, where she went to ‘learn something of women’s problems’ as she described her time there in a biography of her father entitled MacKenzie, man of mission. She later worked as superintendent of the Australian Presbyterian Mission Hospital in Pusan Korea from 1952-1975, where her sister Catherine was matron, and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1962 in recognition of her devoted services to medicine.

The Country Women’s Association of Australia was founded on 7 June 1945. Delegates from the six State Country Women’s Associations, voted to form the national body. The purpose of the newly-formed body was to: “enable Country Women’s Associations throughout Australia to speak with one voice on all national matters, more especially concerning the welfare of country women and children”. The first state branch of the organisation had been formed in New South Wales in 1922. All other mainland states followed suit by 1928 with the Tasmanian branch being founded in 1936. It is a non-sectarian, non-party-political, non-profit lobby group working in the interests of women and children in rural areas. Given its national scope, large membership and longevity, it was arguably the most influential Australian women’s organisation of the twentieth century.

As of 2004, the Association comprises44,000 members and 1855 branches. It is the largest women’s organization in Australia.

In 1903 some of the 260 members of the Wattle Club decided to expand their activities. At a meeting held on the 4th of August that year, members voted to carry the motion: ‘That the name of the Wattle Club be changed to “Alexandra Club”.

According to Monica Starke, author of The Alexandra Club: A Narrative 1903-1983, Rule 1 of the Club states categorically: ‘The name of the Club shall be the Alexandra Club and it shall be exclusively for social and non-political purposes’. The only quality sought in a prospective candidate was – and is – that she should be ‘clubable’.

Author Monica Starke writes in the publication The Alexandra Club:

“The honour of being the first women’s club in Australia belongs to the Karrakatta Club, founded in Perth in 1894… The inspiration for the club came from Dr Emily Ryder, a visiting American who was so impressed by the standard of the books studied by the St George’s Reading Circle and the members’ ability in debate that she suggested the formation of a club modelled on the Education Clubs that were popular with American women. A well-attended meeting, convened by two distinguished members of the teaching profession, unanimously voted to form a club on the lines explained to them by Dr Ryder. Sociability would not have been ruled out as an aim but Dr Ryder obviously envisaged an active role in public affairs for the new club since she warned that ‘ridicule would be cast on the club but they must make up their minds to live down opposition and ignore ridicule’. With this attractive future predicted for it the Karrakatta Club set off bravely with thirty-eight foundation members and four departments: hygiene, literature, arts and, as an afterthought, because of the continuing battle for the enfranchisement of women, legal and educational.”

The vision of the YWCA of Australia is of a fully inclusive world where peace, justice, freedom, human dignity, reconciliation and diversity are promoted and sustained through women’s leadership.

The YWCA of Australia is a women’s membership organisation nourished by its roots in the Christian faith and sustained by the richness of many beliefs and values. Strengthened by diversity the YWCA draws together members who strive to create opportunities for growth, leadership and empowerment in order to attain a common vision: peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all people. In Australia, the YWCA is represented in over 45 locations in all States and Territories, and currently delivers services to more than a quarter of a million women, men and children each year, throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Australia. The YWCAs of Australia provide services in youth; childcare; health; housing; emergency accommodation and travel accommodation.

Margaret Valadian was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 26 January 1986 and Civil Member of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1976 for services to the Aboriginal Community.

Jean Skuse was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 26 January 1992 for service to religion, particularly through the World Council of Churches, and to women’s affairs. In the Queen’s Birthday Honors list 1979 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community.

Dr Nancy (Nan) Giese was a pioneer of education and the visual and performing arts in the Northern Territory. She was strongly involved in planning and setting up the first tertiary institutions and for ten years was elected Chancellor of the Northern Territory University, now Charles Darwin University.

Valerie Fisher was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on Australia Day 1995 for service to raising the status of women in developing countries through the organisation ‘Associated Country Women of the World’. She had been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for service to women’s affairs on 31 December 1981.

For service to international relations particularly in the cause of peace, Stella Cornelius was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 26 January 1987. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 3 January 1978 for services to commerce.

Lilian Scantlebury, née Whybrow, was a leader of the Australian Red Cross Society (ARCS) in the Victorian Division and at the national level. Her efforts were acknowledged with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1959 for her services to the Red Cross Society. Educated at Ruyton Girls’ School in Kew and the University of Melbourne, she was a member of the Red Cross Society from 1914. She spent two years in London during World War I working at the Australian Red Cross wounded and missing bureau with Vera (Deakin) White, who also became an influential member of the ARCS in Victoria. Leon Stubbings, in his history of the Australian Red Cross entitled Look what you started Henry, claimed that because these two women ‘had experienced the real meaning of Red Cross during the First World War, dedication was demonstrated by hard work throughout their life’. Lilian Scantlebury married Dr G C Scantlebury in April 1920 and had one daughter. She was vice-chairman of the National Council of the Australian Red Cross Society, Melbourne, from 1951 and earlier had assumed the position of honorary director of the Wounded and Missing Enquiry at Burwood, Victoria from 1940-1947. Her other interests included membership of the committee of Janet Clarke Hall and Trinity College, University of Melbourne, from 1926-1961 and she was its chairman from 1939-1961. She also served on the Council of St John Victoria from 1954-1958.

Joan Carden was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) on 13 June 1988 and an Officer (Civil) of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1981 for services to opera.

Mary Miller, with her husband, Edward, whom she married in September 1877, was an early member of the Australian Red Cross Society in Victoria. They had two sons. Mary Miller was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her war work in 1918. Her husband, a financier, pastoralist and politician, was knighted in 1917 and held the position of Honorary Treasurer of the Australian Red Cross Society until 1928.

On 10 June 2019, Ita Buttrose was appointed Companion (AC) in the General Division, Order of Australia for eminent service to the community through leadership in the media, the arts, and the health sector, and as a role model. On 13 June 1988, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the community, particularly in the fields of medical education and health care. In the Queen’s Birthday list 1979 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for service to journalism. She became the first woman to be awarded the Harnett Medal for community service and achievements in publishing, journalism, radio and television.

Ida Birchall, one of Tasmania’s first female doctors, became the first Tasmanian member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1936. After graduating MB BS from Sydney University in 1933, she worked at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, in 1933 and the Royal Hospital for Women, New South Wales, in 1934. She furthered her medical career with appointments in the United Kingdom at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester from 1934-1936 and the Women’s Hospital, Nottingham from 1936-1938. She was ultimately honorary consultant to the Launceston General Hospital and to the Queen Victoria Hospital Launceston. A member of both the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Australian Medical Association (AMA), she was chairman of the northern division of the Tasmanian Branch of the AMA in 1964 and had served as honorary secretary of the northern division of the Tasmanian branch of the BMA from 1944-1945. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to medicine on 1 January 1969. The Ida Burchill Library in Launceston exists to ‘support and encourage spiritual growth’ and is available for the use of ‘Christian Communities and the wider public communities’.

Sister Deirdre Jordan was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) on 26 January 1989. She became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) on 1 January 1969 for services to education. The daughter of Clement and Helana (née Roberts) Jordan, Sister Deirdre Jordan is a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. In March 2002 she retired as Chancellor of Flinders University South Australia. Her association with Flinders University commenced in 1981 as Pro-Chancellor. A senior lecturer at Adelaide University from 1968 to 1988, Sister Jordan lectured in the field of sociology of education. She undertook study tours of Tanzania (1975), China (1976 and 1979), South America (1977 and 1980) to investigate bases for decision-making in structure of curriculum and education administration in developing countries.