The Australian Women's Register

Ada Bromham spent her long life as a campaigner for the rights of women, children and Aboriginal people. She stood for parliament on two occasions; once in 1921 for the Western Australian Assembly and again in 1941 for the seat of Unley in the South Australian Parliament. She was a member and office bearer of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union from 1925 until her death in 1965. She was a member also of the Women’s Service Guilds, which was affiliated with the Australian Federation of Women Voters.

A member of the ACT Greens, Deb Foskey was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory representing the electorate of Molonglo in 2004. She retired from Parliament in 2008 after serving for one term only.

Dawn Lawrie, an Independent, was the second woman elected to the Northern Territory Assembly in 1971 as Member for Nightcliff. She represented her electorate for twelve years, until she was defeated in 1983.

Phyllis Mander-Jones was Mitchell Librarian from 1947 to 1957. In 1962 she became the first Australian Joint Copying Project Officer. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971 in recognition of her contribution to Australian history.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Mary Porter was elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory representing Ginninderra in October 2004. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2012. She held the position of Deputy Speaker in the previous Parliament. Before her entry into Parliament she was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia in 2003 for service to the community and the Centenary medal in 2001 for voluntary and paid service with a number of not-for profit organisations.

Louisa Macdonald was the first Principal of the Women’s College at the University of Sydney.

Marie Bentivoglio was the first Australian woman to receive a scholarship to the University of Oxford.

Bentivoglio graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science in 1919. She completed a Diploma in Education in 1920.

She was the first woman to win an 1851 Exhibition Science Scholarship to the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, where she gained a Doctorate of Philosophy and a Diploma of Geography.

On return to Sydney, Bentivoglio lectured at both the University of Sydney and the Sydney Teachers College. In 1928 she succeeded Thomas Griffith Taylor as Head of the Department of Geography.

In 1931 she published A physical and practical geography for secondary schools with Frieda Frances Friederich.

She later travelled to North and Central America, teaching in universities and working in the chemical industry.

Marie Coutts Clark was a physicist and spectrochemist at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Clark was educated at North Sydney Girls’ High School and then the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1932. She subsequently completed a Radio Engineering Diploma Course at Sydney.

Between 1932-1940 she taught at schools in Kyogle, Coffs Harbour, Yass and Griffith (all in New South Wales).

During the Second world War she worked at the (Amalgamated Wireless Australia) AWA Material Testing Laboratory (1940-45).

She then spent the rest of her professional life (1947-1970) employed as a Demonstrator in Physics at the University of Sydney, as a research officer in the Division of Radiophysics (CSIRO) and as a spectrochemist.

Dorothy Rhodes Taylor was one of the first women employed in the Department of Geography at the University of Sydney. She co-authored The Geographical Laboratory (1925) with her better known brother, Thomas Griffith Taylor.

Dorothy Rhodes Taylor was born in Serbia where her British father, James Taylor, was employed as a mining engineer. She migrated to New South Wales with her family in 1892/1983. She attended Abbotsleigh College, Parramatta.

Dymphna Cusack was one of Australia’s most prolific and translated writers. Educated at St Ursula’s College, Armidale she won an Exhibition and Teaching Scholarship to the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education. While at the University of Sydney, she developed life-long friendships with fellow authors Florence James and Christina Stead, and lawyer Marie Byles. After graduating she worked as a teacher until her early retirement in 1944 due to ill-health.

Cusack’s literary career took off in 1935 when her first novel, Jungfrau, was published to critical acclaim. A further eleven novels, seven plays, three travel books, two children’s books and one non-fiction book followed. Two of her novels were collaborations: Pioneers on Parade (1939) with Miles Franklin; and Come In Spinner (1951) with Florence James.

Cusack’s books were translated into over 30 languages worldwide, making her one of Australia’s most translated authors. Her anti-bomb play, Pacific Paradise (1955), written in response to the United State’s atomic tests on Bikini Atoll, sealed her reputation across Asia, Eastern Europe and the Pacific.

During the 1950s and 1960s Cusack spent long periods overseas with her partner (later husband) Norman Randolph Freehill, a journalist and founding member of the Community Party of Australia. After returning to Australia in 1962 she became associated with Faith and Hans Bandler, leaders of the Aboriginal rights movements.

In 1963 Cusack was a foundation member of the Australian Society of Authors. In 1975 she was named Woman of the Year by the Union of Australian Women. In 1976 she refused the Order of the British Empire due to her republican ideals, but in 1981, soon before her death, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to Australian literature.

Jean Moore was elected to the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Tasmania as an Independent representing the electorate of Hobart in 1992. A short-term Member of Parliament, she was defeated at the 1994 election.

A member of the Tasmanian Greens, Peg Putt was elected to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Tasmania representing the electorate of Denison in 1993. She was re-elected in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006. In 1998 she became leader of the Greens after the election in which she was the only Greens candidate to retain her seat. She retired from Parliament in 2008.

A member of the Liberal Party, Denise Swan was elected to the House of Assembly in the Parliament of Tasmania representing the electorate of Denison in 1995. She served in the Parliament until her defeat at the 2002 election.

Fanny Cohen was headmistress of Fort Street Girls’ High School in Sydney from 1929 to 1952. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1962 for her services to education.

She was an inspirational teacher and leader with firm views about the importance of streaming gifted students and ensuring that talented girls were given the same opportunities as boys.

Florinda Katharine Ogilvie was a pioneer in the developing field of medical social work, who served as a fellow of the University of Sydney Senate in the 1940s.

Gladys Hope Marks was a lifelong supporter of women’s rights. She was active in a range of feminist groups, including the National Council of Women of New South Wales. A gifted linguist, she taught French at the University of Sydney in the 1920s and 30s.

The New South Wales branch of the Australian Federation of University Women established the Gladys Marks memorial fund to assist mature women to complete courses at the university.

Alice Ruth Walker was a student and later academic in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney.

Educated at North Sydney Girls’ High School, she matriculated in 1933 and enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney. She graduated with First Class Honours and the University Medal in Philosophy in 1937.

She began her academic career soon after when she was appointed as a part-time correcting assistant in Department of Philosophy in 1937. The following year she was promoted to the position of part-time Demonstrator/Tutor

The years later, in 1941 she received her first full time appointment at the university, that of full-time Assistant Lecturer. She was appointed lecturer in 1944.
1944: Appointed Lecturer

In 1952, she took a year’s study leave to work at the University of London and the London School of Economics, where she mixed with the likes of Karl Popper and Alfred Jules Ayer. Two years later, in 1954 she was appointed Senior Lecturer. In 1960 she took a year’s study leave, worked at the University of Oxford as a “recognised student”.

Alice Walker retired from the University of Sydney in 1972.

Annie Margaret McArthur led a distinguished career as an academic and an international consultant in the field of nutrition. Her research interests included Aboriginal Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. She paid particular attention to the contribution of women to the food supply and subsistence.

In 1965, McArthur was the first woman to be offered a tenured position in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sydney.

When McArthur died in 2002, she bequeathed property to the University of Melbourne. The McArthur Fellowship, for postdoctoral studies in the humanities and social sciences, was subsequently established in her honour.

Annie Praed enrolled in the first dentistry course at the University of Sydney. In 1938 she was the first woman to graduate with a Doctor of Dental Science (DDSc) from the University of Sydney. She was actively involved in the Society of Dental Science and helped to found the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Dental Association.

Beryl Ada Graham was a science teacher and author of several school textbooks.

She was educated at Bellevue Hill Public School, William Street Girls Junior High School (1931-1933) and Sydney Girls’ High (1934-35).

Graham graduated from Sydney Teachers’ College with Bachelor of Science in 1940 and was awarded the Eva Saunders Prize for Botany III. She received her Diploma in Education in 1941.

After graduating Graham taught at several public schools, including Cessnock High and Willoughby Girls’ Home Science High.

She married Ernest Graham in 1947 and had two children, born 1956 and 1957.

Lady MacCallum was President of the National Council of Women from 1919 to 1927. She was also an active supporter of female students at the University of Sydney.

She migrated to Australia in 1886 when her husband, (Sir) Mungo William MacCallum, was appointed foundation professor of modern languages and literature at the University of Sydney. Mungo later went on to become vice-chancellor and chancellor of the University, while Dorothea became active in community work and campus life.

As well as being active in the National Council of Women, she was prominent in the Sydney Day Nursery and Nursery Schools Association, especially in the establishment of its nursery training college in 1932.

Lady MacCallum was also associated with the Royal Society for the Welfare of Mothers and Babies; the New South Wales Society for Crippled Children; and the Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar schools at Darlinghurst and Moss Vale.

A portrait of her by E. A. Harvey was presented to the University Settlement in 1933.

The Sydney University Women Evening Students’ Association was established in April 1911 to cater for the needs of evening students, many of whom were teachers.

The Sydney University Women’s Society was established in 1891 with the object of assisting “anyone requiring and deserving help”.

Among other activities, members of the Society worked at Lewisham Hospital, Newington asylum for aged women, the Woolloomooloo girls’ club and the Harrington Street night school for girls at Millers Point.

Today the re-named Sydney University Settlement Neighbourhood Centre works primarily with the Aboriginal community and other disadvantaged groups in Chippendale, Redfern, Darlington and Waterloo.

A member of the Australian Labor Party, Kath Venn was elected to the Legislative Council of the Tasmanian Parliament representing Hobart in 1976. During her period in parliament, she served as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council for three years. She was defeated at the 1982 election.

Originally a member of the Australian Labor Party, Mary Willey was elected to the House of Assembly in the Parliament of Tasmania in 1979 representing the electorate of Bass. She resigned from the Labor Party in 1981 in support of the premier of the time Doug Lowe in his approach to the damming of the Franklin River. She fought the 1982 election as an Independent and was unfortunately defeated on that occasion.

A member of the Liberal Party, Carmel Holmes was elected to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of Tasmania representing the electorate of Denison in 1984. She served in the Parliament until her defeat at the 1986 election.

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