The Australian Women's Register

Sue Chilly is a staunch member of the Aboriginal rights movement, progressing reform both as an activist of groups such as the Australian Black Panthers, and as a field officer of the Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs.

Marlene Cummins is one of Australia’s foremost blues musicians, a lifelong Aboriginal rights activist and the subject of Rachel Perkin’s 2014 documentary Black Panther Woman .

Janet Cosh was the only child of Dr John and Louise Cosh (née Calvert). Janet attended the University of Sydney, where she studied English, History and the Classics. She moved to the Southern Highlands in 1934, where she took a keen interest in local history and the natural environment. In her late sixties, Janet devoted her life to the study of the native flora of the Southern Highlands, New South Wales and became a highly respected amateur botanist. After Janet’s death, her bequest to the University of Wollongong provided funds and botanical resources which were used to establish the Janet Cosh Herbarium.

Born Charlotte Waring in London in 1796, Charlotte sailed for Sydney in 1826 employed to teach the children of Hannibal Macarthur. On the voyage she became engaged to James Atkinson who was returning to his property at Oldbury, Sutton Forest; they married on 29 September 1827 and had four children. When the youngest, Louisa, was only two months old James Atkinson died aged 34, leaving Charlotte to manage a large holding, run far-flung outstations and control convict labour in a district beset by bushranging gangs. In need of male protection, she married the Oldbury superintendent, George Bruce Barton, who turned out to be violent, unpredictable, a drunkard and mentally disturbed, from whom she made a daring escape with her children. Fiercely independent, Charlotte succeeded in challenging the male-dominated legal system and retaining custody of her children. In 1841 while receiving no money from the Atkinson estate, she wrote A Mother’s Offering to Her Children, the first children’s book published in Australia. Charlotte died at Oldbury on 10 October 1867.

Vera Addison was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to the community of Kangaroo Ground, in Eltham, Victoria, in 1968. She served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) worker in England during the First World War and was a volunteer and later Honorary General Secretary of the Victoria League of Victoria for 25 years.

The Embroiderers Guild was established in 1960 by Morna Sturrock, her mother Mrs Ethel Oates, and Lady Geraldine Amies.

The Royal Victorian Trained Nurses Association (W.A. Branch) and the Australian Trained Nurses Association (W.A. Branch) amalgamated in 1924 to form the Australian Nursing Federation (Western Australian Branch). The prefix ‘Royal’ was obtained in 1956, but was removed again in 1987.

St Catherine’s School is the oldest independent Anglican girls’ school in Australia. The school was established by Mrs Jane Barker in 1856 as a means of educating the daughters of the clergy.

Alison Turtle was the first person to write detailed historiographies of Australian psychology.

Kathleen Magill was a founding member and honorary secretary of the Australian Women’s Ski Club and a member of the Ski Club of Victoria.

Ethel Anna Stephens was the first female member of the Council of the Art Society of New South Wales and also the preisdent of the Society of Women Painters.

Becky Llewellyn migrated to Australia in 1969. She has worked as a special education teacher, a disability access consultant and as a composer. Becky’s composing career began in the mid-1980s. She studied at the Adelaide Elder School of Music and in 1991 founded the Composing Women’s Festival in Adelaide.

Although several Australian states had formed Ladies Golf Unions in the early 20th century, a national body was not established until November 1921. The Australian Ladies Golf Union (ALGU) was run by delegates from Victoria and New South Wales, with Western Australia having a proxy vote. The aim of the ALGU was to promote and organise women’s golf in Australia; a role which had been previously undertaken by the men’s Australian golf union.

Ethel Godfrey was Victoria’s first female dentist. She passed the Dental Board examination in November 1898 and received her registration on 8 February 1899.

In 1989, Gaby Kennard became the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world.

The Methodist Ladies’ College, Burwood, was opened as the Wesleyan Ladies College in January 1886 with 12 students. After being named the Burwood Ladies’ College from 1899, the name Methodist Ladies’ College was officially used from 1914.

In June 1977 the school was officially renamed MLC school after the Methodist Church was subsumed into the new union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches.

In June 1977 the Methodist Ladies’ College Burwood was officially renamed MLC school after the Methodist Church was subsumed into the new union of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches.

The Wesleyan Ladies’ College was opened on 27 January 1886.

In 1979 Methodist Ladies’ College Launceston merged with Oakburn College and Scotch College to form Scotch Oakburn College.

St Gabriel’s School was renamed the Church of England Girls’ Grammar School in 1933.

Previously known as the School for Mothers Institute and Baby Health Centre, The Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association (MBHA) was officially established in c.1927. The aim of the Association was to reduce infant mortality by providing expert advice to mothers. During the 1930s and 1950s the Association was known for having baby health trains which took clinics to small, isolated communities. In 1980 the MBHA was renamed the Child, Adolescent and Family Health Services and in 1995, it was renamed again to Child and Youth Health.

The Adelaide School for Mothers was established in 1909 by Dr Helen Mayo and Miss Harriet Stirling. In 1915 the school was incorporated and renamed the School for Mothers’ Institute Inc.

The School for Mothers Institute Inc. was renamed the School for Mothers Institute and Baby Health Centre in 1921. It was again renamed in 1927 to the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association.

Formerly the Adelaide School for Mothers, the School for Mothers’ Institute Inc. was established in 1915 after the original organisation became incorporated. In 1921 the School was renamed the School for Mothers’ Institute and Baby Health Centre.