The Australian Women's Register

Martha Sarah Bidmead was the first South Australian and one of three Australian nurses who were awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) medal for service during the Boer War. After her war service she continued her nursing career in South Australia and assumed the position of superintendent of the District Trained Nursing Society of South Australia from 1912 until her retirement in 1926.

Evonne Cawley, a member of the Wiradjuri people, was the first indigenous Australian to win a Wimbledon Tennis Championship in 1971. She left her hometown in Barellan, New South Wales, to live in Sydney to concentrate on her tennis, under the management of Mr Vic Edwards, a well known Sydney tennis coach. She had a successful professional tennis career, lived in the United States of America for a period, then returned to live in Queensland after the death of her mother in 1991. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1972 for services to tennis and Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982.

Olive Eva Anstey was born in Perth in 1920. Against her mother’s judgment, Olive pursued her desire to become a nurse, completing her general training at Royal Perth Hospital. Olive eventually became a top nursing administrator who was well respected and admired for the compassion and leadership qualities she brought to her chosen profession. Throughout her career Olive was a staunch advocate for better working conditions and pay for nurses, working on various committees with the goal of obtaining recognition of nursing as a profession. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1969 and in 1982 was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her service to nursing.

Born in London, Dame Peggy van Praagh had a long and distinguished career in ballet as a dancer, teacher, producer, advocate and director. She came to Australia in 1959 to direct the Borovansky Ballet, and was instrumental in establishing the Australian Ballet in 1962. She was artistic director of the Australian Ballet from 1962-1974 and again in 1978. Dame Peggy received much recognition for her services to ballet, including her appointment to the Order of the British Empire (OBE, 1966) and as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE, 14 June 1970).

Dame Eadith Walker was the sole heir of merchant and pastoralist Thomas Walker. Over the course of her life she gave very generously of her time and money to a wide range of charitable causes, including substantial sums to the women’s college at the University of Sydney, and to the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital.

Dame Ida Mann was a distinguished English ophthalmologist whose long-term association with Australia began when she moved to Perth, Western Australia, after World War II. She diagnosed a trachoma epidemic amongst Indigenous people in the Kimberleys and travelled extensively in Western Australia in order to examine and treat Indigenous people with trachoma. Mann became convinced that better housing and sanitation, rather than administration of antibiotics, would improve this health crisis. She was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 14 June 1980 for services to the welfare of Aboriginal people.

Ivy Wedgwood was the first Victorian woman to be elected to the Senate. She served as Liberal Senator for Victoria from 1950 to 1971, when she retired. Ivy Wedgwood was appointed to The Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 10 June 1967 for services to Parliament.

Annie McEwen, a country woman and wife of the deputy prime minister, John McEwen, was active in the Country Party and devoted her life to working for the public good. She was appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1966 for public services.

The creche was named after its Founder, President and Patron Dame Marjorie Parker.

Elsie Curtin maintained an interest in social issues and politics throughout her entire life. Her work in these areas continued even after the death of her husband, Prime Minister John Curtain. For her service to the community, Elsie Curtin was appointed Commander to the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 1 January 1970.

Eileen Joyce was taught the piano at St Joseph’s Convent at Boulder where her prodigious talent was first recognised. She went on to establish a career in England where her concert performances in glamorous gowns, and studio recordings, would make her one of the most popular pianists of her time.

The Joyce family moved to Western Australia and settled in Boulder where Eileen had her first music lessons at St Joseph’s Convent. Because of her prodigious talent, a fund-raising committee in Kalgoorlie-Boulder assisted her to take up a scholarship at the Loreto Convent in Perth.

Hearing her play the renowned musicians Percy Grainger and Wilhelm Backhaus recommended she should study abroad. In 1926, after a tour of country towns and a farewell concert at His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth, Eileen went to Leipzig in Germany, then London to study and where her stellar career was launched.

In 1933 she made the first of many studio recordings in London. She was so successful her record sales during the 1940s are reputed to have rivalled those of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, amongst others. She returned to Australia in April 1936 for a national tour and a series of concerts for the ABC. On the Easter Saturday she gave a recital at the Kalgoorlie Town Hall, and the following day played for the nuns at St Joseph’s.

During the war Eileen played for the troops, and in the bombed out cities of England with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, all helping to endear her to the people. Eileen always dressed the part of the glamorous concert pianist. She commissioned her gowns from leading fashion designers, the most famous being Norman Hartnell who designed the coronation gown for Queen Elizabeth II.

In later life Eileen was awarded many honours for her contribution to music, receiving an Honorary Doctor of Music from the Universities of Cambridge (1971), University of Western Australia (1979), and the University of Melbourne (1982). In 1981 she was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and Saint George at Buckingham Palace.

On 11 June 1960, Margery Merlyn Baillieu Myer was awarded the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander in recognition of her charitable and social welfare work.

Ada May Norris, née Bickford was educated at Melbourne High School and the University of Melbourne, where she graduated BA Dip. Ed. In 1924. In 1929 she married John Norris. From 1951, Ada Norris was involved in numerous committees and organisations promoting women, multiculturalism, children and immigration.

Ada Norris was appointed Officer of the British Empire (10 June 1954) and Dame Commander of the of the British Empire on 12 June 1976 for distinguished community service. On 14 June 1969 Norris was awarded the Order of St Michael and St George – Commanders while President of the National Council of Women.

Dame Marjorie Parker was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 31 December 1976 for distinguished community service. She was first honoured for her charitable work in Launceston (Tasmania) with an MBE on 2 January 1950 and later an OBE on 16 June 1970. The City of Launceston granted her the ‘Freedom of the City’ in 1984.

Annabelle Rankin was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 13 June 1957 for political and public services. Rankin was the first Queensland woman to be elected a member of Federal Parliament when she became a Queensland Liberal Party Senator in July 1947. She held office for thirty-four years, during which time she served as Minister for Housing from January 1966 to March 1971.

Audrey Reader was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 31 December 1987 for service to women’s affairs and politics. On 1 January 1966 she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) (OBE) for community and social welfare work. Dame Audrey Reader (née Nicholls) married Reginald Reader on 21 February 1928 and they were to have one daughter. Her community memberships included: Freedom Coalition, Australia Free China Economic and Cultural Society and the Australian Human Rights Association. Dame Audrey enjoyed reading, writing and gardening and she was a member of the Royal Society of St George.

Joan Roberts was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 31 December 1977 for services to the handicapped. She had previously been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1973.

Raigh Roe was appointed Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1979 for services to women. A member of the Country Women’s Association since the age of 18, Roe became Branch President, Western Australian State President and National President. In 1977 she was elected World President of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), representing almost nine million women in 74 countries. That year she also was named Australian of the Year.

Lady Latham was president of the Royal Children’s Hospital management committee from 1933 until 1954, and founding president of the Victorian Society for Crippled Children in 1936. On 1 January 1954, Lady Latham was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Commander (Civil) for services to children.

In recognition of her philanthropy and social welfare work, Stevenson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1960, a Commander of the Order of the British Empire 8 June 1963 and a Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1968.

Dame Joan Sutherland was appointed as a Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 30 December 1978 for services to the performing arts. She was also appointed to the Order of Merit in 1991 for Services to opera and singing. In 1983 she was described as, ‘quite simply, the greatest and most beloved singer in the world today’. She is known universally, and accurately, as ‘La Stupenda’.

At age 19 in 1882 Pattie Browne married Alfred Deakin who became the youngest ever cabinet minister in Australia, in 1883. He was Prime Minister of Australia in 1903-1904, 1905-1908, and 1909-1910. Throughout her married life, Pattie devoted herself to her family and charity work, especially in the area of child welfare.

After World War I, Pattie refused to accept an honour for her philanthropic work. Her husband Alfred Deakin also declined all honours and honorary degrees during his political life. But just prior to her death on 30 December 1934 Pattie accepted the award of the order of Commander of the British Empire (civil), which was awarded to her posthumously in January 1935.

Mary Cramer, a teacher before her marriage to John (later Sir John) Cramer, in January 1922, brought her formidable organising skills to rearing their four children and to her public activities. On the election of her husband as mayor of North Sydney in 1939, she assumed the duties of lady mayoress. Known for her natural sense of humour, she organised a Voluntary Aid Detachment for North Sydney at the beginning of World War II, and also the first group of the Women’s Australian National Service in Sydney and became its first commandant. Her husband later became a founding member of the Liberal Party of Australia and a Minister for the Army from 1956-1963. She was president of the New South Wales division of the Red Cross Society and of the Mater Misericordae Hospital Advisory Board at North Sydney. Despite recurring illness, she maintained her public activities and was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1971 for distinguished public service, which had covered four decades. According to the report in The Sydney Morning Herald on 26 May 1994 on the death of Sir John Cramer, ‘Sir John with his late wife Dame Mary, had left an indelible mark on the lower North Shore’.

Patricia Mackinnon joined the Royal Children’s Hospital Committee of Management in 1948, serving it in several offices before being elected to the presidency in 1965. She was appointed a Commander to the Order of the British Empire in 1972 and a Dame of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1977 in recognition of distinguished service to the community in hospital administration.

Mary Daly, nee MacMahon, was acknowledged as an interested and hardworking member of a range of Catholic and other charitable organisations. Educated at Loreto convents in both Normanhurst, New South Wales and Ballarat, Victoria, she maintained her Catholic links throughout her life. In January 1923, she married Dr John Joseph Daly, a nephew of the founder of St Vincent’s Hospital, Mother Berchmans Daly. They had two children, John and Marie. Dr Daly was appointed to the staff of St Vincent’s Hospital. Mary Daly served on the St Vincent’s Hospital auxiliary as honorary secretary and was acting president for a period of three years from 1933-1936. She was president of the Catholic Welfare Association from 1941, a member of the National Council of the Australian Red Cross Society, and executive member of the Council of the Victorian Division. She was the author of four children’s books, one of which was published by the Yooralla Hospital School, another of her charitable causes. Her services to social welfare were acknowledged with her appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1937, Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1949, and Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 7 June 1951. The Catholic church awarded her the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1951. She was also awarded a long service medal from the Red Cross Society in 1940 and honorary life membership in 1971.

Ella Macknight was an obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. She was appointed as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1969 for services to medicine. She was also a talented hockey player, winning University Blues and playing in the Victorian team when she was at the University of Melbourne.

Constance D’Arcy was a distinguished obstetrician and gynaecologist, who was committed to lowering the maternal mortality rate through the control of puerperal septicaemia. An active Catholic, she contributed to both catholic and secular organisations during her life. In addition to her practice in Macquarie Street, Sydney, she was honorary surgeon at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, and lectured in clinical obstetrics from 1925-1939 at Sydney University, where she ultimately became the first women deputy chancellor from 1943-1946. As a member of the National Council of Women, she organised its sex education program. Aware of the importance of high standards of nursing care, she was a founder of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation. As president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club in Sydney in 1944, she made clear her commitment to equal pay and opportunity for women. She was appointed as Dame of the Order of the British Empire on 3 June 1935 for Services to the welfare of children. The pope honoured her with the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1940.