The Australian Women's Register

Following her discharge from the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) on 29 November 1945 Dorothy Hawthorn joined the Reserve of Officers.

Educated at Brisbane Girls’ High School and Sommerville House, Hawthorn had been Deputy State Commissioner for the Girl Guides’ Association of Queensland, Secretary of the Federal Council for Girl Guides and worked for the Women’s Voluntary National Register with the Red Cross and the Australian Comforts Fund. She was one of the first WAAAF Officers appointed in March 1941, firstly with the Air Board and then Adjunct and Barracks Officer at the WAAAF Training Depot, Malvern. She became Commanding Officer of the Training Section in Sydney, and later, Section Officer with a Training Group. In 1944 Hawthorn was promoted to Wing Officer whilst in command of No 1 Training Depot, Larundel, Preston Victoria. Subsequently she served as Section Officer WAAAF at the North Eastern Area Headquarters of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Ruth Hamilton-Williams, the daughter of James Davidson, enlisted in the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS) on 1 May 1943. She served as Assistant Controller at the Australian Military Forces Headquarters in Melbourne before being discharged, with the rank of Major, on 21 November 1946.

Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her service to education, particularly in the field of history, on 26 January 1989, Kathleen Fitzpatrick was the first woman council member of the National Library of Australia, and a foundation member of the Australian Humanities Research Council (later the Australian Academy of Humanities).

Ivy Kent, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Woods, was educated at Iona Convent (New South Wales) and Mosman’s Park in Western Australia. Kent, who was a leader in the Labour Women’s Movement of Western Australia, a worker in youth welfare and an officer of the Housewives Association, established a club for neglected girls during World War I. She served on the Married Women’s Relief Court for 20 years and was a member of the Lotteries Commission, the Adult Education Board, the National Fitness Executive and Soldiers’ Dependants’ Appeal. In 1944 Kent became the first woman commissioner of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (representing Western Australia). In 1953 Kent was elected Foundation President of the Association of Civilian Widows in Western Australia, a movement which became national five years later. In 1959 she was elected National President, and later, National Life Governor. On 1 January 1968 Ivy Kent was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service to the welfare of women and children.

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.

Dr Patricia Clarke is a writer, historian, editor and former journalist, who has written extensively on women in Australian history and media history. Several of her publications are biographies of women writers and others explore the role of letters and diaries in the lives of women. Since the 1980s she has played an active part in national cultural institutions and community organisations in Canberra and her work has been recognised by a number of awards and grants.

Jessie Clarke, daughter of Ivy Brookes and grand daughter of Alfred Deakin, trained in social work and was professionally active in the Port Melbourne, Victoria, area. She studied in New York in the 1930s, was a junior delegate to the League of Nations Union in Geneva and an activist on behalf of refugees. She founded the Nappy Wash delivery service in the period after the Second World War.

The daughter of Thomas and Gwenelian (née Bartleman) Laby, Beth Laby completed her secondary schooling at Korowa Anglican Girls’ School. She graduated with a Diploma of Foods and Cookery, Institutional Management, from the Emily McPherson College of Domestic Economy before becoming a demonstrator with the Metropolitan Gas Company.

In 1942 Laby was appointed to the cookery department at Emily McPherson College and part of her college war work included teaching members of the Australian Women’s Army Service, the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service and army hospital cooks. She demonstrated to civilian women the use of diverse foodstuffs during a time of food rationing and uncertain supply, as well travelling to country towns to show women how to make ovens from oil drums in case the war moved south from Darwin.

Laby became acting head of the Emily McPherson College cookery department following the resignation of Miss Jose and later taught at Prahran Technical College. In her retirement she was a delegate to the National Council of Women of Victoria (NCWV) for the Home Economics Association of Victoria. From 1992 to 1997 she was an associate of the NCWV and continued to contribute to council fund-raising activities and assist the home economics advisers well into the 1990s.

Constance Ellis became the first woman graduate of the University of Melbourne to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) in March 1903. She joined the pathology department of the Queen Victoria Hospital in 1902 and was honorary pathologist from 1908 until 1919. Ellis was the first woman to become a demonstrator and lecturer of Pathology at the University of Melbourne.

A foundation member of the Lyceum Club, Ellis was also a member of the Medical Women’s Society, the Australian Association for Fighting Venereal Diseases, the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association, the National Council of Women of Victoria, the Victorian Baby Health Centre Association and the Emily McPherson College.

Camilla Wedgwood, the fifth of seven children of Josiah and Ethel (née Bowen) Wedgwood, came to Australia in 1928 to lecture in anthropology at the University of Sydney. She then lectured at the University of Capetown, South Africa and at the London School of Economics and Political Science before being granted a fellowship to study the lives of women and children on Manam Island, New Guinea by the Australian National Research Council. Later Wedgwood became principal of Women’s College at the University of Sydney and held this position until her appointment in the Australian Army Medical Women’s Service, at the express wish of General Sir Thomas Blamey. She developed policies for postwar educational reconstruction in Papua New Guinea. Following her discharge Wedgwood returned to lecturing. A member of the Australian Student Christian Movement she was also involved with the Rachel Forster Hospital for Women and Children, the Anthropological Society of New South Wales, the Australian Federation of University Women and the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Rachel Robinson became the General Organising Secretary of the Housewives’ Association (Victorian Division) in 1924. Educated at the Presentation Convent, Launceston, from 1912 to 1915, Robinson was an organiser with the People’s Liberal Party. She held the position of Organiser with the Australian Industries League in 1919-1921. Robinson acted as secretary for a number of candidates at various state and federal elections.

Alice Speedie, the daughter of the Reverend John and Susan (née Long) Burns was treasurer of the Housewives’ Association of Victoria for 20 years. Educated at Clarendon College, Ballarat Victoria and Inglemere College, Adelaide, South Australia, she married Charles Speedie on 10 October 1905. They had three children. A member of the executive to the Children’s Cinema Council of Victoria, Speedie was President of the Australian Women’s National League, Elsternwick branch, between 1939-1943. She later became vice-president of the branch. A delegate to the National Council of Women of Victoria and the Youth Problem of Today committee, Speedie was the President of the Housewives’ Association of Victoria, Elsternwick branch. Aged 76, Alice Speedie died in 1955.

On 31 March 1965 Merle Thornton and Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to the Regatta Hotel bar rail to protest for women’s rights. They wanted to liberate public bars from being men-only. The two protestors were both mothers of two and married to university lecturers. They were refused service, the publican faced a fine of £10-£20 if he served them with liquor, but were bought a beer by sympathetic male patrons. Their action became the starting point for women’s liberation in Brisbane in the late twentieth century. It is now recognised as one of the defining moments of second wave feminism in Australia.

A post-graduate student in Philosophy at the University of Queensland, Thornton went on to establish the Equal Opportunities for Women Association in April 1965. She also introduced the teaching of Women’s Studies in Australia in 1973 and was the special guest of the Queensland Government and speaker at the 70th celebration of International Women’s Day in 1999. Besides her academic writing Thornton has also written episodes for the television drama series Prisoner and has written and produced documentaries. Her stage play Playing Mothers and Fathers had a successful season at the Carlton Courthouse Theatre (Victoria) in 1990. Merle Thornton, the mother of actor Sigrid, returned to the Regatta Hotel, that now has a room named after her, for the launch of her first novel After Moonlight in 2004.

Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, Alice Wheatley was educated at Perth College. She undertook her nursing training at the Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia and the Queen Victoria Hospital, Victoria. In 1941 Wheatley enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service (RAAFNS). On 10 March 1944 she was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal Second Class for her work in charge of the first nursing party of the RAAFNS in New Guinea. In 1946 Wheatley represented the RAAFNS in the Victory Contingent to England. From 1946 until 1951 she held the position of Matron-in-Chief. On 1 January 1951 Wheatley was appointed an Officer of the British Empire in recognition of her service with the RAAFNS.

For recognition of her nursing service with the Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service (RAAFNS), Thelma Childs was awarded the Royal Red Cross medal on 14 June 1946. She undertook her nursing training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and upon completion was appointed to the staff. In 1941 she enlisted in the RAAFNS for service not only in Australia but also the United States of America, England, Canada and New Guinea. At the time of her discharge, on 2 November 1945, she held the position of Matron. Four days after her discharge she married Captain F H Childs MC.

The author of the Billabong series of books, Mary Grant Bruce began writing poetry and short stories at the age of seven. Later she became editor of her school magazine. After completing her matriculation Bruce moved to Melbourne where she worked as an editor and wrote weekly stories for the Leader children’s page. Her first book A Little Bush Maid, originally a serial, was published in 1910. Between 1910 and 1942 she published 37 children’s novels. During her career Bruce was a contributor to Blackwood’s Magazine, Morning Post, Daily Mail, Windsor Magazine, Cassell’s Magazine, Strand, Argus, Age, Herald (Melbourne), Australasian, Leader, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Mail, Lone Hand Auckland Weekly Press, Woman’s World, West Australian and the British Australasian. During World War II Bruce worked for the AIF Women’s Association, sold her autograph at charity auctions for the war effort and broadcast a series of talks for the Department of Information.

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.

Muriel Heagney worked tirelessly for the labour movement in various capacities during her long life. Her major commitment, however, was to achieve equal pay for women workers. Born into a labour family, she joined the Richmond branch of the Political Labour Council (later the Australian Labor Party – ALP) in 1906, and was a delegate to the Women’s Central Organising Committee in 1909. Other positions she held included: membership of the Victorian central executive of the Australian Labor Party from 1926-1927; secretary of the Women’s Central Organising Committee; and ex officio member of the party’s central executive in 1955. She was a founding member of the Council of Action for Equal Pay which was established in Sydney in 1937 under the auspices of the New South Wales branch of the Federated Clerks’ Union and was secretary for most of its existence. It disbanded in 1948. She returned to Victoria in 1950 and continued to maintain her union and political interests into the 1960s. Her publications include Are women taking men’s jobs?, (1935), Equal pay for the sexes, (1948), Arbitration at the crossroads, (1954). She died in poverty in St Kilda in May 1974.

Glen Tomasetti was born in Melbourne, Australia. An academically and musically gifted woman, she was well-known throughout the Australian folk music circuit, working on commercial television and cutting eleven albums in the 1960s. A left-leaning environmentalist and feminist, Glen was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War and was a member of the Save Our Sons Movement in Victoria. In 1967 she made headlines when she was subpoenaed to court for withholding one-sixth of her income tax on the grounds that this was the exact proportion used by the Holt government to finance the war in Vietnam.

She became a hero of the feminist movement in 1969 when she adapted the words to an old shearing gang ballad, ‘All among the wool boys’. Glen’s version ‘Don’t be too Polite, Girls’ was written to support the 1969 case for equal pay that was being heard by the high court.

Glen Tomasetti had three children and believed that motherhood was the emotional core of her life. She has been described as “a woman of singular passion that found focus in motherhood, friendship, art, the environment and justice for the oppressed. Her creativity was multifaceted. She was a historian, poet, novelist and actor. She was formidably intelligent and her god had bestowed on her extraordinary physical beauty.”

Gwyneth Dow was appointed as a Lecturer in the Education Faculty at the University of Melbourne in 1958, a Senior Lecturer in 1963 and Reader in 1970. She was an inaugural member of the Steering Committee of the Curriculum Advisory Board in Victoria, and fostered pilot schemes to introduce curriculum and organisational changes in secondary schools. She published several reports relating to these schemes. She introduced a Diploma of Education Course “Systems of Education” and was instrumental in introducing an alternative Diploma of Education Course, Course B, which concentrated on method and practical teaching in the first year. Gwyneth Dow, a descendant of the early colonial Terry family, began researching the family history in 1965 after writing an article on Samuel and Rosetta for the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Irene Pye enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) on 8 September 1943. Following basic training she worked in a number of administrative positions and was posted with the 3rd Psychology unit at the time of her discharge on 11 February 1947. A member of the Australian Women’s Army Service Association ( Victoria.) Inc., since its inception, she attends functions and reunions.

Mary Goddé grew up on a farm in Western Victoria and put her experience driving tractors to good use when she joined he Australian Women’s Army Service on 8 September 1943. After her marriage in 1947, she moved to Myrtleford, in north-eastern Victoria, where she played a significant role in the Catholic Women’s League.

Prior to joining the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) in August 1941, Margery Campbell was secretary for the Overseas League in Brisbane and a Voluntary Aid Detachment member. A former Squadron Officer, during her World War II service she was posted as a staff officer with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Maintenance Group Headquarters in Sydney. Later she was staff officer attached to the Forward Echelon of the RAAF and a personal representative of the Director of WAAAF, Group Officer Clare Stevenson. In March 1944 she married Patrick Campbell of the Australian Imperial Force and was posted with the 5th Maintenance Group Headquarters at her discharge on 8 November 1944.

Dorothy Munro (née Otter) worked as a secretary in the New South Wales Valuer Generals Department before enrolling in the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) on 12 May 1943. During her service she was a secretary at the Fairmile Training School and had postings at both HMAS Penguin and HMAS Rushcutter. She achieved the rank of Petty Officer before being discharged on 31 January 1946.

During 1946 Dorothy married and did not return to the work force until all three of her children were at school. Before retiring in 1983, she held several secretarial positions including secretary to general managers and department head. Following her discharge from the WRANS, Munro joined the Naval Association of Australia and participated in social activities and memorial services. After her retirement she became a committee member of the WRANS. In 1990 Munro joined the office staff of the Naval Association first as an office assistant, then as assistant State secretary and finally State secretary before retiring in February 2002. In June of 2002 she became president of the Ex-Women’s Royal Naval Service (NSW)

After serving with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) during the Second World War, Elizabeth Backhouse worked as a scriptwriter with Korda Films in England. Backhouse returned to Australia in 1951. She was a writer of novels, children’s stories, plays, filmscripts, a ballet and a musical.

Patricia Dow interrupted her teaching career when she enrolled in the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) on 29 December 1942.