The Australian Women's Register

Merle Bush devoted over 50 years of her life to the Victoria Guide Movement. During that time she developed training programs for leaders in Victoria and interstate. In the New Year’s Honours List for 1956, Bush was appointed an Officer of the British Empire (Civil) for her services to the Girl Guide Movement.

Kathleen Best, as nurse and army officer, was an inspiring leader in both a war and peace time environment. As an army officer in the Middle East, she distinguished herself through her courage and efficiency in her treatment and care of the wounded. After her wartime service, she assumed a number of peacetime appointments, which included becoming the founding director, Australian Women’s Army Corps (Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC)) in 1951. Kathleen Best’s war effort was acknowledged by the award of the Royal Red Cross medal ‘for gallantry, conduct and devotion in Greece 14/27 April 1941’ and her subsequent role as Director of the WRAAC was honoured with her appointment as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1956.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Elizabeth Couchman, widowed after ten years of marriage, and without children, devoted her life to working in the public sphere. She was president of the Australian Women’s National League from 1927 until 1945, when it merged to form the Liberal Party of Australia. She made three unsuccessful attempts to be pre-selected for the Senate. She eventually gained Liberal Party pre-selection for the safe Labor seat of Melbourne in the 1943 election, but was unsuccessful. She worked in the Liberal Party organisation as a member of the state executive and state council and served as Victorian vice-president of the party from 1949-1955. Her major contribution lay in providing a political base for women and increasing their role and effectiveness in political life. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1960 for public and patriotic services.

Phyllis Frost (née Turner) is renowned for her commitment to women in prisons and to the environment. According to Jenny Brown in an article on Phyllis Frost in the Good Weekend, (24 April 1993) she was member, chairman or primary patron of forty-seven mainly charitable committees throughout Victoria and was known for her ‘enormous capacity to get things done’, to ‘shear through red tape’. Her Christian philosophy of love your neighbour and treat others as you would like to be treated, together with the belief that it is only in helping others that the human spirit can achieve happiness and rest, underpinned her work. Educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College and the University of Melbourne, Phyllis Frost trained as a physiotherapist and returned later to university to study criminology in order to understand better the minds of female offenders. She worked to assist women in prisons with their diets and to keep their babies with them as they served their sentences. She started the ‘Keep Australia Beautiful’ campaign and was associated with the Freedom from Hunger Campaign for thirty years, twelve of which she served as the Victorian chairman and one as world chairman in 1969. She is patron of the Victorian Relief Committee and has been a member since 1963 and honorary life counsellor, Victorian Women’s Prisons Council, since 1999. She was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1974 for outstanding service to community, having been appointed as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1963.

Florence Cardell-Oliver became the first woman in Australia to be appointed to a cabinet or ministry when made Western Australian Minister for Health, Supply and Shipping in 1949.

In her biography on Dame Mary Herring, Della Hilton lists Dame Mary as being Patroness of the following organisations:
• Aftercare Hospital
• Victorian Women’s Hockey
• Australian Association O Group
• Ministering Children’s League
• Spastic Children’s Society
• Victorian Association of Day Nurseries
• Victorian Family Council
• Save the Children Fund
• Travellers Aid Society
• Bush Nursing Association (Life Governor)
• Royal Eye & Ear Hospital Auxiliaries
• Royal Melbourne Hospital Auxiliaries
• Tweddle Baby Hospital
• Gentlewomen’s Aid Society
• Victorian Amateur Sports Council
• RSL Women’s Association Veterans Care Homes.

Mary Herring was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 June 1960 for service to nursing in Victoria.

Zara Bate was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for devotion to the public interest on 8 June 1968.

Leonie Kramer was notable as an academic and public figure, particularly as Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1982-1983 and professor of Australian literature at Sydney University from 1968, and later chancellor from 1991-2001. She supported conservative educational values in the face of progressive approaches and campaigned against the adoption of a republican form of government in Australia. She was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 31 December 1982 for services to literature and the public.

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.

Margaret Scott was appointed to the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander on 13 June 1981 for services to ballet. She had previously been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 31 December 1976.

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.

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.

Mabel Irene Coles was associated with the Royal Women’s Hospital for twenty-nine years, and was president from 1968-1972. She was appointed as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1965 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 12 June 1971, for charitable services.

Dame Nellie Melba (née Helen Porter Mitchell) was an internationally renowned opera singer, celebrated for her magnificent coloratura (soprano) voice.

On 1 January 1954, Pattie Menzies was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (Civil). The official citation, conferring the GBE to her under her married name, Mrs R. G. Menzies, read: “In recognition for her years of incessant and unselfish performance of public duty in hospital work, in visiting, addressing and encouraging many thousands of women in every State of Australia, including very remote areas, and in the distinguished representation of Australia on a number of occasions overseas.”