The Australian Women's Register

On 8th June 1992, Sheila Scotter was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the Arts, particularly through fundraising. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 13th June 1970 for services to journalism and commerce.

Pamela O’Neil was Australia’s first Sex Discrimination Commissioner.

Patricia Rawlings served with the WRAAC for 23 years. She has held executive positions with state and national WRAAC Associations.

Helena Marfell was the inaugural national president of the Country Women’s Association of Australia in 1945.

Annie Laidlaw devoted her life to nursing and served in both world wars. She completed her nursing training at the Children’s Hospital (later Royal), Melbourne. In 1917 Laidlaw joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and served in military hospitals at Bombay and Poona.

After the war Laidlaw returned to the Children’s Hospital as ward sister. In 1925 she was granted a year of leave to complete midwifery training at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney. Returning to Melbourne, Annie became assistant lady superintendent (assistant-matron) at the Children’s Hospital. In 1930 she was promoted to lady superintendent of the hospital’s orthopaedic section at Frankston. She held this position for 12 years.

Selected to head the Royal Australian Naval Nursing Service (RANNS) in 1942 she was in charge of the Flinders Naval Depot hospital as well as being in charge of the RANNS. After her discharge from the navy Laidlaw returned to her position at the Children’s Hospital until 1950.

From 1951-52 she worked in London. On her return to Melbourne she took the position of Matron at the Freemason’s Homes of Victoria, Prahran until her retirement in 1957. Aged 89, Annie Laidlaw died on 13 September 1978 at McKinnon, Victoria.

Judy Abbott was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class on 18 February 1943 for her leadership while matron with the 2/6 Australian General Hospital in the Middle East and Greece. After the war Abbott won the 1946 Florence Nightingale International Foundation scholarship, and studied at the Royal College of Nursing, London for 18 months. In 1948 she returned to her pre-war position on the tutorial staff at the Brisbane Hospital.

Abbott was appointed principal matron of the Citizen Military Forces and served with the 1st Camp Hospital, Brisbane, for a short time during the Korean War. From 1954 until 1956 she was president of the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association (Queensland Branch) and a member of the Queensland State Nurses and Masseurs Registration Board. Nearing the end of her career, she worked as a staff nurse with the Commonwealth Savings Bank for five years and then in a doctors’ surgery before retiring in 1970.

Judy Abbott fractured her spine in 1975 and suffered quadriplegia. After her death on 27th November her body was given to the school of anatomy, University of Queensland.

Marjory Taylor became a Member of the Order of Australia on 9 June 1980 for her service to nursing.

During World War II she served with the Royal Australian Airforce Nursing Service (1944-1946) and worked voluntarily as senior nursing officer with the Girl Guide International Service in the British Zone, Germany, for three years.

From 1950 until 1981 Marjory worked with the Geelong Hospital, first as supervisor of the Maternity Wing and then Director of nursing. For 17 years – two as president – Marjory was a board member of the Intellectually Handicapped (Karingal) and was a founder and Board Member of the Geelong Hospice Care Association.

Beryl Evans was a Liberal Member of the Legislative Council in the New South Wales parliament from 1984-1995. She later ran unsuccessfully for the Senate as an independent, and for the New South Wales Legislative Council as a member of the Seniors Party. She was an official candidate for the 1998 Constitutional Convention, representing the One Australian Monarchist League, but was not elected.

During World War Two, Evans served in the Royal Auxiliary Australian Air Force with distinction. She became president of the WAAAF Branch of the RAAF Association New South Wales Division on 25 March 1997.

Honor Darling was a journalist who played a significant role in the Girl Guide Movement in Australia. She held various roles, including that of local publicity officer and ultimately, Chair of the Australian Publications Committee. Whilst a member of the armed services (the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force) she edited the members’ magazine.

Mickey Syer enlisted at Claremont, Western Australia, in the Australian Army on 6 February 1941. A member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she was stationed with the 2/10th Australian General Hospital when captured by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. Mickey spent three and a half years in Japanese prisoner of war camps in Sumatra.

During October 1945, she returned to Australia and was discharged from the Army on 10 August 1948.

A nursing sister serving with the 2/10th Australian General Hospital, Pat Gunther (later Darling) was one of the Australian nurses taken prisoner by the Japanese in Sumatra during World War II. She writes about her three and a half years incarceration and survival in Portrait of a Nurse published in 2001.

Tootie Keast (later MacPherson) was one of six Australian Army Nursing Service sisters who were taken Prisoner of War on 23 January 1942 in Rabaul, New Britain. The sisters spent three and a half years interned with civilian nurses and missionaries. At first they were held at Vunapope Catholic mission before being transferred to Yokohama and then Totsuka.

After the War in the Pacific had ended a Japanese official told the women that their imprisonment was over. At the end of August an American officer found them, and arranged for their repatriation. They were flown back to Australia via the Okinawa Islands and Manila. [1]

On 10 April 1946, MacPherson was discharged from the Australian Army.

[1] Guns and Booches p. 149

Jean Greer (later Pemberton) enlisted in the Australian Army on 16 December 1940. Attached to the 2/10 Australian General Hospital she was posted to Malaya in 1941.

On 14 February 1942, Jean was one of the 65 nurses aboard the ship Vyner Brooke when it was sunk by Japanese bombing. After reaching the shore she was captured by the Japanese and was a Prisoner of War for the next three and a half years before being liberated.

Jean Greer was discharged on 23 September 1946 and married Scotsman Duncan Pemberton in Singapore in 1947.

The couple moved to England where Jean died on 7 December 2001.

Dur-e Dara was awarded the Medal of The Order of Australia (OAM) in 1997 for services to the community and promotional and fundraising activities for women’s groups.

The youngest child of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (q.v.) and Sir Keith Murdoch, Janet Calvert-Jones follows the family tradition, established by both of her parents, of being involved in business as well as philanthropy.

Joanna Baevski is the granddaughter of Russian migrant Simcha Baevski, better known as Sidney Myer.

The only daughter of Prue Boyd (q.v.) and Kenneth Myer, Joanna Baevski is a Director of The Myer Foundation. She is Vice-President of the Governance Committee, and a member of the Social Justice Committee, the Water Committee and the Environment Grant Making Committee. She represents The Myer Foundation as a council member of the organisation Our Community, and is a board member of Australians for Just Refugee Programs.

A member of Philanthropy Australia, Joanna Baevski is also a supporter of the Victorian Women’s Trust.

Daughter of Douglas and Eina (née Pennicott) Boyd, Prue Boyd was educated at Clyde School, Woodend, Victoria. In 1947 she completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne, and was married to Kenneth Myer that same year. The couple were to have five children: four sons and one daughter, Joanna Baevski (q.v.). Prue Boyd and Kenneth Myer were divorced in 1977.

A council member of St Hilda’s College (University of Melbourne) from 1964 until 1971, Prue obtained her Diploma of Education from Monash University in 1972 and became a tutor at the Council of Education in Melbourne. In 1977 she was appointed as a Director of the Australian Institute of Political Science, and in 1981 was awarded her Master of Laws degree by Monash University.

A member of the Lyceum Club (Melbourne), Prue Boyd’s interests include international affairs – especially Third World development, federalism and the Australian Constitution. She enjoys music, reading, films and theatre.

Lady Marigold Southey has been Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria since January 2001. She is also President of Philanthropy Australia and the St Catherine’s School Foundation. She resigned as President of The Myer Foundation in 2004.

The youngest child of Sidney and Merlyn (née Baillieu) (q.v.) Myer, Marigold – like her three older siblings – was born in San Francisco, California. The family returned to settle in Australia in 1929.

In 1950 Marigold Myer married Ross Shelmerdine (deceased 1979) and they were to have four children. On 22 July 1982 she married Sir Robert Southey, who died in 1998.

Lady Southey is a supporter and Honorary Life Member of the Australian Ballet, Life Member of the Nuffield Farming Scholars Association, and a supporter of Birds Australia. On 7 June 1999, she became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the community in the support of health care, medical research and the arts.

Neilma Gantner, along with her son Carillo and brother Baillieu Myer, established The Gantner Myer Collection of Australian Aboriginal Art. Assembled over a four-year period by curator Jennifer Isaacs, the collection was unveiled in San Francisco in September 1999.

Neilma is the eldest daughter of Sidney and Merlyn (née Baillieu) Myer. Like her three siblings, she was born in San Francisco, California, but raised in Melbourne. Neilma completed her tertiary education at the Universities of Melbourne and Stanford. In 1941 she married Vallejo Gantner (later divorced) and they were to have two sons (one deceased).

Neilma Gantner was a member of the Executive of International Social Service, and of the Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund. She worked as a novelist, poet and short story writer under the pseudonym of Neilma Sidney, and founded the Four Winds Cultural Festival (Bermagui, New South Wales).

The career of Australian tennis player Thelma Coyne Long spanned more than 20 years. The winner of the Australian Women’s Singles title in 1952 and 1954 (aged 35 years) she was also runner-up in 1951, 1955 and 1956. From 1936 until 1940, Thelma Coyne and Nancye Wynne (later Bolton) were Australian Women’s Doubles Champions. During the war years of 1941 to 1945, no competition was held for major Australian tournaments and Long enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS). Following her discharge from the AWAS Long and Nancye Wynne Bolton continued their tennis careers. They won the Australian Doubles 1947-1949 and 1951-1952. Long then joined with Mary Hawton to win the doubles championship in 1956 and 1958 – 20 years after she won the National Junior Singles Championship aged 16. The pair were also runners-up for the Wimbledon Women’s Doubles title in 1957. Long was winner of the Australian Mixed Doubles 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955 and the French Mixed Doubles in 1956.

On 30 August 2000 Long was awarded the Australian Sports Medal and inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.

A life member of the Australian Women’s Army Association (New South Wales) Long was actively involved in the archiving of the association records. In October 2002 she became a participant of the Australian Women in War Project working group.

Amy Taylor was elected Chair of the Council of Ex-Servicewomen’s Associations in 2005.

The daughter of Sir Henry and Lady Manning, Eleanor Manning was a member of the Women’s Australian National Services and became the most senior officer of the Australian Women’s Army Service in the State of New South Wales.

When the Australian Women’s Army Service was established in October 1941, Manning was appointed Assistant Controller, Eastern Command with the rank of Major. She with other first appointments attended the first Officers Training School held at Yarra Junction, Victoria in November, 1941. At the conclusion of the training, Major Manning returned to Sydney and commenced duty at Headquarters Victoria Barracks, Sydney. She and her staff were responsible for the recruitment and initial training of all Australian Women’s Army Service enlistments in New South Wales.

Other appointments held by Major Manning in the AWAS were:-
– 1943 Deputy Controller to the Controller, Colonel Sybil H Irving MBE, Australian Women’s Army Service, at their Headquarters in Melbourne.
– Commanding Officer, Australian Women’s Services Officers’ School, Darley, Victoria. This post combined the training of both the Australian Women’s Army Service and the Australian Army Medical Women Service Officers, and she remained there until the termination of her appointment.

On the 13 June 1959, Eleanor Manning was appointed an Officer to the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services as Chief Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association of Australia.

Margaret Anderson enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service at Dandenong (Victoria) on 19 September 1941.

On 12 February 1942, three days before the fall of Singapore, the freighter, Empire Star sailed from Singapore Harbour. The ship which normally had an allocation of space for 20 passengers was carrying over 2100 people. While on route to Batavia the ship came under enemy fire and received three direct hits. During one of the raids two of the Australian nursing staff on board, Sisters Margaret Anderson and Vera Torney, came on deck to attend to the wounded. They protected their patients by covering them with their bodies.

Staff Nurse Margaret Anderson was awarded the George Medal on 22 September 1942 for her bravery when the ship was attacked by enemy aircraft. Staff Nurse Vera Torney was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military).

On 4 June 1946 Lieutenant Margaret Anderson was discharged from the Australian Army Nursing Service.

Originally a ballerina in Perth, Western Australia, Joan Dowson served throughout World War II as a nurse. She continued her association with the Australian Red Cross throughout her life.

Formerly President of the War Widows’ Guild of South Australia, Janet Mayo was elected National President of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia following the death of her predecessor, Jessie Vasey, in 1966.

Dr Rhonda Sharp is a leader in the field of feminist economics, nationally and internationally, in both academia and applied policy work.

The second daughter of Vance and Nettie (née Higgins) Palmer, Helen Palmer spent a year in London after being educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (Melbourne) where she was dux in 1934. Returning to Melbourne she won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BA and DipEd in 1939. She later obtained a B.Ed. (1952). From 1940 until 1942 she was a teacher in Victorian State schools.

Helen Palmer enlisted in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force on 18 February 1942 and during her service worked in the education division. After the war she worked with the Commonwealth Office of Education (Sydney). In 1948 she returned to Melbourne teaching in private schools.

She made several trips to China and in 1953 published her observations in An Australian Teacher in China. Through the bi-monthly publication Outlook (1957-1970), Helen Palmer provided a forum for vigorous discussion of all issues which were part of a radical critique of Australian politics and society.

The author (with Jessie MacLeod) of First Hundred Years (1954) and After the First Hundred Years (1961), she also authored books on Australian literature, popular culture and history. Helen Palmer was also a prominent poet and balladist and is remembered for ‘The Ballard of 1891,’ that describes the shearers’ strike.

Helen Palmer died on 6 May 1979.