The Australian Women's Register

Roslyn Russell is a historian, author, editor and museum consultant who has lived and worked in Canberra since 1982. She holds Bachelor and Masters Honours degrees in History from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Science (Cultural Heritage Management) from the University of Canberra, and a PhD in English from the University of New South Wales.

Her published works include Literary Links: Celebrating the Literary Relationship between Australia and Britain, One Destiny! The Federation Story: How Australia Became a Nation (with Philip Chubb), Ever, Manning: Selected Letters of Manning Clark 1938-1991, and The Business of Nature: John Gould and Australia. Editor of several museum magazines in Australia over the period from 2000 to the present, Roslyn has developed museum exhibitions in Canberra, interstate and overseas, including the Museum of Parliament and National Heroes Gallery of Barbados, and has co-edited a book on Caribbean museums, Plantation to Nation: Caribbean Museums and National Identity. She has also worked as a curator at the National Museum of Australia and is a Research Associate in the Museum’s Centre for Historical Research.

Following her education in Sydney, Berlin and Paris, Ruby Board devoted her time to social welfare issues. She became a Member of the Board of the Rachael Forster Hospital and for a period was President of the National Council of Women of New South Wales. During World War II, Board was president of the Women’s Voluntary National Register, a member of the executive of the Australian Comforts Fund and Defence Director of the Women’s Auxiliary National Service.

The daughter of South Australian landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen, Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the Archibald portrait prize (1938) and the first women to be appointed as an Australian war artist on 12 October 1943. During her service Heysen completed over 170 works of art. Following the war she travelled to England and in January 1953 married Dr Robert Black, who was to become the Head of Tropical Medicine at the University of Sydney. On 26 January 1998 Nora Heysen was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to art as a painter of portraits and still life subjects.

During World War II Elsie Byth was an executive and/or committee member of a number of organisations. President of the National Council of Women of Australia in 1944 and the National Council of Women of Queensland (1940-1945). She was vice-president of the Australian Comforts Fund in 1940 and the Women’s Voluntary National Register; member of the management committee for the Queensland Patriotic Fund; member of the War Saving committee and the War Accommodation committee. Married to solicitor George Leonard Byth (Len) in 1917, they had four children. Her hobbies included music, flowers and fine needlework.

The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial located at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens features a granite wall listing the names of Australian Prisoners of War (POW). The listing is by surname and initials and shown by war. Between the Boer War (1899-1902) and the Korean War in the 1950’s 34,737 Australian servicemen and women (59 World War II nurses) were incarcerated in POW camps.

Betty Jeffrey was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 8 June 1987 for service to the welfare of nurses in Victoria and ex-service men and women. Jeffrey was one of the members of the Australian Army Nursing Service who was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942. Incarcerated in Japanese prisoner of war camps for three and a half years, after the war she wrote about the experiences in White Coolies (1954) which was later the basis for the film script Paradise Road (1999). After her return to Melbourne, and spending some time in hospital, Jeffrey and fellow survivor Vivian Bullwinkel travelled throughout Victoria raising funds towards a memorial for military nurses. The Nurses Memorial Centre was opened on 19 February 1950 and Jeffrey was appointed its first administrator. In 1986 she became the Centre’s patron.

Margaret Lang was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 8 June 1950 for service with the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service. Lang was the founder and Matron-in-Chief of the Service during World War II. She had completed her training at Wangaratta District Hospital and the Women’s Hospital (later Royal), Melbourne. During World War I Lang served in Salonika with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). Other positions she held included being a Matron of a number of Victorian country hospitals, the Police Hospital and the Talbot Epileptics Colony in Clayton, Victoria.

The funeral service for former Group Officer Betty Docker, aged 81, was held at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Director of the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service (RAAFNS) Docker trained at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne. She then joined the hospital staff before enlisting with the RAAFNS in 1944. During her time in the service she fought for change so married women could continue on as nurses and women could reach the highest ranks – something not allowed previously. After 28 years with the RAAFNS Docker retired in 1975 having been awarded The Royal Red Cross (2nd Class), 1968; Royal Red Cross, 1970; the Florence Nightingale Medal, 1971 and the National Medal in 1977.

Captain Kay Parker was one of the six army nurses and eleven civilians who were taken to Japan as Prisoners of War from Rabaul on 23rd January 1942.

After being exposed to ‘sweated labour’ conditions while working in the Melbourne clothing industry during the 1880s, Jean Beadle was inspired to dedicate her life to the betterment of conditions for women and children. Known as the ‘The Grand Old Lady of the Labor Party,’ she was a founding member of the Women’s Political and Social Crusade and the Labor Women’s Organization in Victoria (1898), Fremantle (1905) and Goldfields (1906). She was also a delegate to the Eastern Goldfields District Council of the State Australian Labor Party. Beadle was one of the first women appointed as a Justice of the Peace in Western Australia, sitting for many years on the Married Women’s Court. She was later appointed to serve as an honorary Justice on the bench of the Children’s Courts. An official visitor to the women’s section of the Fremantle Prison, Beadle also was instrumental in the building of the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women. She was secretary, of the King Edward Memorial Hospital Advisory Board, from 1921 until her death. In recognition of her dedicated service the hospital annually awards a Jean Beadle scholarship.

Born Mary Wilson at Richmond, Victoria, she was also known by her stepfather’s name, Fawaz, before adopting the name of her country as a stage name prior to her debut in 1922 at Covent Garden. Known as one of the world’s greatest Wagnerian sopranos Florence Austral married the Australian virtuoso flautist John Amadio in 1925 and toured widely with him in America and Australia. After the Second World War she returned to Australia almost completely paralysed with multiple sclerosis. She nevertheless taught until her retirement in 1959. Austral died at a nursing home in Newcastle on 16 May 1968.

On 1 July 2003 a dedication of a WRANS Memorial, formally recognising Harman as ‘The Birthplace of the WRANS,’ was held. The WRANS Memorial HMAS Harman is dedicated to those who have served in the Woman’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) and those females who have and are currently serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Emily Dobson was a tour de force in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Tasmanian society. As the wife of the State Premier, Henry Dobson, she played a central role in multiple political and charitable organisations. She was vice-president of the Tasmanian section of the National Council of Women in 1899, and attended the first meeting of the International Council of Women in London that year. Dobson became president of the National Council of Women Tasmania in 1904 and held that position until her death. She was the first Australian to be elected vice- president of the International Council of Women at the Rome quinquennial in 1914.

The daughter of Dr Roberta and Martin Jull, Henrietta Drake-Brockman married the then Commissioner for the far north west of Australia, Geoffrey Drake-Brockman on 3 August 1921. While in the north west she wrote articles for the West Australia under the pseudonym ‘Henry Drake’. The author of Men Without Wives, which won the Australian Sesquicentenary prize, Drake-Brockman also wrote for the theatre, and was co-editor, with Walter Murdoch, of Australian Short Stories. On 1 January 1967 Henrietta Drake-Brockman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Australian literature.

A member of the original Australian Women’s Army Service Officer’s School, Joan Bryce was appointed Assistant Commandant. She was discharged on 12 February 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant.

When established in 1981, Joan Bryce became the first patron of the AWAS Association of Queensland.

Dorathea Skov joined the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) after seeing an advertisement for girls interested in becoming army officers in 1941. Prior to enlisting Skov had been secretary of a variety of sporting bodies and suburban church groups as well as being interested in the YWCA. She became a member of the original Officer’s School and was later appointed Assistant Commandant Northern Command. Early in 1942 Captain Skov was one of the officers who interviewed candidates to enlist in the AWAS, visiting sixteen outback centres per week in the busiest period.

Dorathea Skov was the Queensland representative on the Sybil Irving Memorial Fund Committee.

Marj Oke’s first job was as a teacher in a one-room school. Upon her marriage in 1942, as was the policy of the time, she was suspended from teaching. Working at the Australian Jam Company, she encountered very poor working conditions. This experience propelled her to join the Food Preservers’ Union and become active in the Australian Labor Party. She stood as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party in the Legislative Assembly seat of St Kilda under her maiden name, Bennett, at the Victorian state election, which was held in 1943. In 1950, Oke became a founding and lifelong member of the Union of Australian Women. After returning to teaching in Moe, she campaigned for equal pay for women teachers, the abolition of the marriage bar and access to superannuation. Additionally, Oke formed a branch of the Aboriginal Advancement League and became, in 1992, a founding member of the Network for Older Women. On 10 June 1991 she was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) for service to aged people, particularly women. Oke was included in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in March 2002.

Doris Carter became Australia’s first women’s field athlete to compete at an Olympic Games when she placed sixth in the high jump at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. She also represented Australia in international hockey, and was General Manager of the Australian Women’s Team at the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956. A Wing Officer and Director of the Women’s RAAF, she was the first woman to fly both the Canberra Bomber and the Vampire Jet. Her proudest moment was in 1996 she co-led the Melbourne ANZAC Day parade

During her career Ruth Gibson served on the University Public Examinations Board, the Technical Schools Curriculum Board and the Social Studies Committee. As well she was a foundation member and honorary treasurer of the Australian College of Education, a member of the foundation committee of the St Ann’s College and a president of the South Australian Women Graduates’ Committee. Over many years Gibson was a committee member or office-bearer in the National Council of Women of South Australia; the National Council of Women of Australia; the International Council of Women; the Royal Flying Doctor Service (SA Section); the Adelaide YWCA; The Adelaide College of Education; the Status of Women Commission; the Soroptimists’ Clubs; the SA University Women Graduates’ Association; the Australian Association United Nations; the Good Neighbour Council; St Ann’s Women’s University College; the Junior Red Cross; the Australian Broadcasting Commission; the Churchill Scholarships Foundation; and the National Fitness Council.

The daughter of former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, and wife of public official Herbert Brookes, Ivy Brookes played an active part in Australian political life. She occupied a central role in the National Council of Women; the Housewives’ Association; the International Club of Victoria; the Women’s Hospital; and in various boards and committees at the University of Melbourne. A talented musician, she won the Ormond Scholarship for singing in 1904, and played first violin for Professor Marshall Hall’s Orchestra at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Vera Adderley worked at the Dubbo and Crown Street Hospitals before serving with the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service from 1941 to 1947. She joined the Parramatta Hospital in 1955 and in 1962 she was appointed Assistant Matron at the Prince Henry Hospital. Adderley became Director of Nursing Services at the Prince Henry and Prince of Wales Hospitals in 1966. She was also a council member of the College of Nursing New South Wales, the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association and the Matrons’ Institute of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. In 1978, Adderley was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire and a building is named in her honour on the Randwick Hospitals Campus.

Major Jessie Perkins MBE, RFD, ED (Retd) was the first Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) Citizen Military Forces (CMF) member to be awarded an MBE. She was appointed a Member (Military) to the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1970, for her services to the WRAAC.

Stella Swinney completed her Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University and then worked at Farmer & Coy Ltd, Sydney, before joining the Women’s Australian National Services and the Australian Women’s Army Service. After completing a course at the Officers’ Training School she was posted to New South Wales Line of Command Area. Swinney was responsible for training and administration of the Australian Women’s Army Service in New South Wales. She took over from Major Eleanor Manning as Assistant Controller of New South Wales in May 1943.

During World War II Gwenneth Gehan served with the Australian Women’s Army Service, having been a member of the Women’s Australian National Services previously. Upon completion of the Officers’ Training Course she was posted to the Quartermaster’s Department, Victoria Barracks, Sydney. Later she transferred to the Recruit Training School, Killara and towards the end of 1942 accompanied a draft of Signalwomen to Queensland. At the time of her discharge on 23 April 1946 Gehan held the rank of Major.

For lifesaving after the ship Centaur was attacked by a Japanese submarine, Lieutenant Ellen Savage was awarded the George Medal on 22 August 1944.

Voluntary Aid Detachments were established during World War I by members of the Australian Red Cross and the Order of St John. Members received instruction in first aid and home nursing from the St John Ambulance Association. Initially they worked without pay in hospitals and convalescent homes alongside doctors and nurses. After the war the voluntary service continued. Recruits were drawn from the local area by invitation from a serving member. During the World War II Voluntary Aid Detachment members were given more medical training, but they were not fully qualified nurses. Voluntary Aides worked in convalescent hospitals, on hospital ships and in the blood bank, as well as on the home front.

In New South Wales Voluntary Aid Detachments are now part of the Voluntary Aid Service Corps (VASC). To become a member of the Corps, volunteers must hold a current Senior First Aid Certificate. Members provide free first aid at major sporting and cultural events as well as assistance in times of disaster.