The Australian Women's Register

The Women’s Group was formed by wives of University of Sydney staff and women academics in 1949.

It is still active today and meets at the Women’s College. It organises a range of social events and excursions

On 7 May 1984 the University of Sydney Senate appointed a Committee to organise functions to mark the Centenary of the First Women Graduates.

One of the functions organised by the Committee was the Women’s Studies Conference, held from 20 September to 22 September 1985 at the Women’s College. A separate Steering Committee was appointed for this purpose.

The Conference was attended by almost 500 people and around 60 papers were presented.

At the Plenary Session of the Conference, a motion was passed asking the Senate to formalise their recognition of the importance of this area of study by the creation of a Chair in Women’s Studies.

Isabel Fidler was tutor to women students at the University of Sydney. She was an office bearer in all the university women’s societies. She was also active in a range of women’s groups including the National Council of Women (New South Wales Branch.)

Jane Foss Barff was a leading advocate for women’s education at the University of Sydney. She was also active in charitable and church activities.

Located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Ascham School is one of the oldest private girls’ schools in Australia.

The school was founded by Marie Wallis in 1886 with nine pupils in a Darling Point terrace. She named the school after Roger Ascham, tutor to England’s Queen Elizabeth I.

Ascham’s teaching is influenced by the Dalton Plan, a philosophy of learning which emphasises self-responsibility and independence. Developed in the United States of America, the Dalton Plan was introduced to Ascham by its longest serving headmistress, Margaret Bailey, in 1922.
Former pupils of Ascham include Linda Littlejohn and Virginia Clare Walker.

Dr Judith Robinson-Valéry was a leading international figure in the study of French literature. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney, staying at the Women’s College while Betty Archdale was in charge, and received her doctorate at the Sorbonne, Paris.

Robinson-Valéry was the first woman to be appointed a full professorship at the University of New South Wales, taking up her appointment in the foundation chair of French and as the head of the school of Western European Languages on 21 February 1963.

In 2005, she was awarded France’s highest decoration, the Legion of Honour (Chevalier).

The Association of Women Employees of the University of Sydney (AWEUS) was formed in July 1980 to represent the interests of women on campus. It was open to all women on the university staff. An annually elected executive met to discuss matters concerning the improvement of the status of women on campus, e.g. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies and childcare facilities. It also gathered information on cases of discrimination and sexual harassment.

Gertrude Amy Roseby was headmistress of Redlands (Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School), Neutral Bay from 1911 to 1945. She was also a strong supporter of the peace movement. In 1958 she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

The Sydney University Boat Club was founded in 1897. The following year a boat was purchased with the assistance of the registrar, professors and Louisa Macdonald, Principal of the Women’s College.

The Women’s Collective raised awareness of issues concerning women on campus at the University of New South Wales and it also organised activities for women. It was one of the clubs and societies affiliated with the Students Union at the University of New South Wales.

The University of new South Wales Wives Group was stablished at the New South Wales University of Technology (renamed the University of New South Wales in 1958) in 1950 as the Technical Education Women’s’ Group. The Group acted primarily as a social organisation in welcoming the wives of new staff members and students to the University.

The U Committee exists to raise funds for the University of New South Wales through activities such as the Book Fair and the sale of memorabilia. It has supported numerous scholarly and community activities including the University of New South Wales Art Prize and Travelling Scholarship, the Literary Fellowship and the Kensington Lectures for High School Students. Women played a leading role in the group.

The last book fair was held in May 2012 and the U Committee officially disbanded in 2013.

Ravenswood School for Girls was founded by Mabel Maude Fidler in 1901. Classes took place in a schoolroom erected on the block adjacent to her home, ‘Ravenswood’, in Gordon, Sydney. While it was a non-sectarian private day school for girls, boys were enrolled in 1901 but the older ones departed by July the same year. They continued to be enrolled until 1913 in the Infants area and again during the war years but only in Kindergarten.

Fidler sold the school to the Methodist Church in 1924, by which point it had 180 pupils. The school became a Uniting Church school in 1977.

Ravenswood continues to operate today and has an enrolment of 1 130. It has always remained and grown on the original site at Gordon and is a member of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools (Australasia).

Mabel Maude Fidler was the founder of Ravenswood School for Girls.

Mabel Fidler and her sister, Isabel Margaret Fidler, attended Emily Baxter’s Argyle School in Surry Hills and both were winners of the prestigious Fairfax Prize.

Fidler worked as a governess for several years before opening her own school in 1901. The classes took place in a schoolroom erected on the block adjacent to her home, ‘Ravenswood’, in Gordon, Sydney. It was a non-sectarian private day school for girls.

Fidler sold the school to the Methodist Church in 1924, by which point it had 180 pupils. She retired as Headmistress the following year but continued on as the President of the Old Girls’ Union (ROGU) until 1938. One of her last ‘official’ appearances was at the Jubilee Celebrations of ROGU in 1958 at which the new Mabel Fidler Library was opened.

The Sydney University Women Undergraduates’ Association was formed in 1899. It ran a variety of social activities for women students.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Mary-Anne O’Neill was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as Member for Kallangur at the election which was held on 21 March 2009.

Marian Clarke was the founding headmistress of Abbotsleigh, an Anglican girls’ school in Sydney, New South Wales.

Abbotsleigh was founded by an English woman, Marian Clarke, in 1885. An Anglican school for girls, it was first located in a terrace in North Sydney. The school then moved to Parramatta in 1888, and finally to its current premises in Wahroonga.

Abbotsleigh was one of the first girls’ school to have a sports field, which was opened in October 1901.

Margaret Ann Montgomery Bailey was the longest serving headmistress of Ascham School. She experimented with new learning methods, introducing the ‘Dalton plan’, a philosophy of learning which emphasises self-responsibility and independence, into the senior school in 1922.

She was educated at the Newnham School for Girls, Toowoomba, and attended the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1900.

Originally a member of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party, Elisa Roberts was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Gympie in 2001. She continued in the Parliament as an Independent after 2002 until her defeat at the 2006 election.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Christine Smith was elected to the Parliament of Queensland as the Member for Burleigh in 2001. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2009.

A member of the One Nation Party and later an Independent, from 1999, Dolly Pratt was elected to the Parliament of Queensland in 1998 as Member for Barambah. After an electoral redistribution she was elected the Member for Nanango at the 2001 election. She continues to represent the electors of Nanango as an Independent.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland was established in 1886 with the Right Rev Dr James Murray serving as Bishop. Presiding over the spiritual well-being of Catholics residing in a geographic area that spread north all the way to the Queensland border and west as far as far as could be reached, Bishop Murray knew the task was enormous, much too big for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, who arrived in the area two years earlier, to deal with on their own.

Recognising the tradition of the Dominicans as educators, and acknowledging Catholic education in the diocese as a priority, he called upon their Irish leaders to support a long term plan. Dominican Sisters provided a unique possibility. Not only could they continue the work of the schools for the less fortunate, as did the Josephites and Good Samaritan Sisters, but they could also educate young women who would have the financial backing and social standing to become the first of generations of Catholic teachers for the people of the Maitland Diocese.

Born to Australian-born parents of Irish descent, Catherine O’Brien received her senior education at the Dominican Convent, Maitland, where she won a teacher-training scholarship. In July 1914she entered the same convent, and received the habit in April 1915, taking the religious name of Mary Anselm. She made perpetual vows in April 1917 and remained at Maitland, teaching in the secondary school, until 1920.

She left Maitland In 1921, and moved to Santa Sabina Dominican Convent School, Strathfield, so that she could attend the University of Sydney. She graduated B.A. in 1924 with first-class honours in English and Latin and the University medal for English. She gained her diploma in education in 1925, and in 1928 took a first-class honours M.A. in English literature, with a thesis on tragedy.

She taught at Santa Sabina for twenty years, between 1925-45, and became well known and respected for her innovative methods and range of publications. She was an enthusiastic educator who aimed to provide a high quality education for girls. She was particularly interested in ensuring that girls received opportunities to participate in sport and other forms of physical education. In 1922 she convened the first meeting of principals of Catholic girls secondary schools to facilitate co-operation in sporting competitions, which became a feature of Catholic schools in the 1930s.

Described as a ‘woman of great strength’, Kathleen Egan was a Dominican Sister and educationist with a commitment to improving educational opportunities for children with hearing disabilities.

In 1931, after teaching in Tamworth and Mayfield, both in New South Wales, she was appointed to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb at Waratah, Newcastle, New South Wales. Believing that ‘the deaf child has tastes, dislikes, ambitions similar to those of her unhandicapped sister’, she introduced the State curriculum (using conventional textbooks where possible) and was, thus, responsible for considerable reforms of education for the deaf in New South Wales.

A member of the National Party, Judy Gamin was elected as the Member for South Coast in 1988 at a by-election, but was defeated at the 1989 election. She was elected as Member for newly created seat of Burleigh at the 1992 election. She was re-elected in 1995 and 1998, but was ultimately defeated at the 2001 election. Before her election to the state parliament, she stood unsuccessfully in the federal seat of Moncrieff at the 1984 election.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Molly Robson was elected the Member for Springwood in the Parliament of Queensland in 1989 and remained in the seat until 1995. During her period in parliament she held the ministerial portfolio of Environment and Heritage from September 1992 until July 1995.