The Australian Women's Register

In 1924 a committee of middle-class women of Geelong, concerned that girls beginning work at fourteen were not fully prepared for life, met to form the Blue Triangle Community. Their stated aim was ‘to help Girls to find the best in life by offering opportunities to develop all their powers’. Employers provided support, including an annual donation. Industry-based teams played basketball on Saturday afternoons, and  tennis clubs and a swimming club were formed. Club rooms were secured, and educational and social activities were held for Senior girls (those over 20) and  younger ‘Girl Citizens’.  They included sex education. A Friday night ‘At Home’ and Sunday teas were instituted. Volunteers visited workplaces each pay day to collect money to bank on the girls’ behalf, a summer camp was run to provide an annual holiday at a reasonable cost, and opportunities were provided for service to the community. 

May Freeman was born into a privileged Geelong, Victoria, family. Her great and lifelong contribution to her local community was as a committed volunteer leader and member of community organisations. May was a Sunday School teacher, and was involved in the Guides and Brownies from their earliest days in 1925 until her death.  She was a committee member of the Girls Unity Club, which provided education, recreation and support for Geelong’s working girls, and was a member of Rotary, the YWCA, the Red Cross, the Victoria League, The Royal Commonwealth Society Women’s Group and the Trefoil Guild.

The daughter and grand-daughter of Gippsland dairy farmers, Catherine Noy has always been involved in her local community. Based in Gippsland, she was at the geographical epicentre of the Women in Agriculture movement, and worked on the administration of the First International Women in Agriculture Conference, the Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women, and the projects of the Gippsland Women’s Network. 

Louise Clare Pratt was born in Kalgoorlie in 1972. She attended Eastern Hills Senior High School in Perth, then studied arts at the University of Western Australia. Pratt became actively involved in student politics, eventually being elected state education officer for the National Union of Students in 1994. A member of the Australian Labor Party, she was elected to the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in 2001, the youngest woman ever elected to the Council. She served until 2007, when she resigned after being assured of election at the 2007 federal election, having won first position on the Labor ticket, defeating incumbent Senator Ruth Webber in a pre-selection contest. She has been a Labor member of the Australian Senate since July 2008.

Megan Anwyl was elected to the thirty-fourth Parliament of Western Australia for Kalgoorlie at the by-election on 16 March 1996, representing the Australian Labor Party. The election was held to fill the vacancy consequent upon the resignation of Hon. Ian Frederick Taylor. Anwyl was re-elected in 1996, and defeated on 10 February 2001.

Cheryl Davenport was elected to the Thirty-third Parliament of Western Australia as the Australian Labor Party member in the Legislative Council. for South Metropolitan Region from 22 May 1989. She was re-elected in 1993 and 1996 and  retired 21 May 2001.

Cheryl Edwards was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. Elected to the Thirty-third Parliament of Western Australia for Kingsley (new seat) on 4 February 1989, she was re-elected in 1993, 1996, 2001. She did not contest the general election of 2005.

Judith Edwards was an Australian Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia. She was elected to the Thirty-third Parliament of Western Australia for Maylands at the by-election on 26 May 1990, held to fill the vacancy consequent upon the resignation of Hon. Peter M’Callum Dowding. Re-elected in 1993, 1996, 2001, 2005 she did not contest the general election of 6 September 2008.

Desley Boyle was an Australian Labor Party politician who represented the electoral district of Cairns in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. She was first elected in the 1998 State Election and is currently (2009) the Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. Desley was formerly Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry, Minister for Child Safety, as well as Minister for Environment, Local Government, Planning and Women. 

Dianne Guise was elected to the Thirty-sixth Parliament of Western Australia as the Australian Labor Party Member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Wanneroo. She was re-elected in 2005, but defeated at the general election of 6 September 2008 and succeeded in Wanneroo by Mr Paul Terrence Miles (Liberal).

The First International Women in Agriculture Conference was held from 1 to 3 July 1994, at the University of Melbourne in Victoria. It attracted over 850 participants from 33 countries, and was the largest agricultural conference held in Australia. It was a pivotal moment in the women in agriculture movement and in the process of securing a voice in decision making for rural women, nationally and internationally.  The conference was organised by women who were active in the movement, from farmers to their supporters and advisors in government departments and non-government rural organisations. Its aims reflected the concerns of women in agriculture: to raise the profile of rural women, to increase awareness of the economic, social legal and cultural factors affecting their status, and to provide learning opportunities to develop new skills and access to information and networks. Its focus reflected women’s concern with the social, environmental and cultural dimensions of agriculture, as well as the economic and production aspects, and their desire to develop and capture opportunities in world markets

Helen Hodgson was a Democrat Candidate elected to the Legislative Council of the Thirty-fifth Parliament of Western Australia for North Metropolitan Region on 14 December 1996 for term commencing 22 May 1997. She was defeated 10 February 2001  and her term concluded 21 May 2001.

Carrard was a Hungarian-born virtuoso pianist who came to Perth, Western Australia, in 1941 and remained there until her death in 2000. She had studied in Hungary with Béla Bartók, and toured extensively as a concert pianist. In Australia, she had a long involvement with the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and taught a legion of pupils, most famously pianist David Helfgott. She was awarded an MBE in 1976, and lived to the age of 102.

Katie Hodson-Thomas was elected to the 35th Parliament of Western Australia as the Liberal Party member for the new Legislative Assembly seat of Carine. She was re-elected in 2001, 2005, but did not contest the general election of 6 September 2008.

Wilhelmina Scott arrived in Australia with her parents at the age of two, grew up in Carlton and Fitzroy, in Victoria, and attended Presbyterian Ladies’ College. She married Reverend John Mathew on July 6, 1897. After he retired from active church work in 1923, she assisted her husband in the establishment of a home mission station in Moreland, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, in 1925.

Described as ‘the complete minister’s wife’, she raised five children, supported her husband in his calling and was involved in many community based activities. She was president of the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union in Victoria from 1924-1935, serving as a branch president of that organisation for forty-four years. She taught at Moreland Sunday School for eighteen years and was the convenor of the Coburg Chinese School for fifteen years.

Monica Holmes was elected to the Thirty-fifth Parliament of Western Australia as the Liberal Party member for the new Legislative Assembly seat  of Southern River on 14 December 1996. She was defeated 10 February 2001.

Mother Patrick Potter was born in Ireland and educated at Cloontagh National School and Longford Convent School. In 1866 she began her novitiate as a Sister of Mercy at Athy Convent, Kildare. Upon arrival in Australia in 1868, Mother Patrick joined the Queensland Sisters of Mercy congregation which had been established by Mother Vincent Whitty, making her profession of vows at Brisbane’s All Hallows Convent in 1869. Appointed to All Hallows’ school, Mother Patrick contributed greatly to the religious, academic and cultural development of the students. In 1879 she was elected to the administration of the Brisbane congregation of Sisters of Mercy, where she acted as Superior or assistant, for the next 48 years.

Bill’ Smith was a successful North Queensland jockey in the early 1900s. Viewed as small in statue and eccentric in behaviour, it was not until his death in 1975 that it was discovered that ‘Bill’ Smith was actually a woman, thus making her Australia’s first female jockey.

From 1974 to 1993 Margaret McAleer served in the Parliament of Western Australia. She was the first non-Labor member of the Legislative Council, and served as Whip from 1980 to 1993.

Grace Sydney Vaughan served in the Western Australian Legislative Council from 1974 to 1980. She drew on her extensive experience as a community and social worker to campaign on issues concerned with poverty, unemployment and welfare.

Edith Bryan was appointed head teacher of the school section of the Queensland Blind, Deaf and Dumb Institution in Brisbane, Australia, in 1901. In 1918 the Queensland government assumed responsibility for this charitable organisation and initially Edith retained her position with the institution.

Following an increase in class numbers as a direct result of introduction of the Blind, Deaf and Dumb Instruction Act of 1924, which made the education of deaf children compulsory, it was deemed appropriate in 1926 that a male should take control of the school. Edith retained charge of the deaf section of the school until she retired in 1937, after which she continued to work for the deaf community.

An active member of the Queensland Adult Deaf and Dumb Mission which she had helped to establish in 1902, Edith chaired a parent support-group which she had also promoted. The mission named Edith Bryan Hostel in her honour.

Winifred Piesse became the first woman to represent the Country Party in the Western Australian Parliament when she was elected to the Legislative Council for a six year term, beginning in May 1977. Her extensive experience in nursing ensured that health matters were high on her Parliamentary agenda. She was particularly concerned about issues affecting children and youth, and also urged the government to urgently fund research into breast cancer, especially its high incidence in young mothers.

Ann Drew settled in Toowong, with her husband Richard Langler Drew in the early 1860s. Over the next four decades Ann advocated and helped administer an array of welfare institutions. Most importantly, in April 1871 she founded the Female Refuge and Infants’ Home (‘Mrs Drew’s Home’) for young single mothers and their babies. Initially funded by Ann and her friends, the refuge eventually gained government assistance, however, this funding was withdrawn in 1900.

As lady president of the Social Purity Society, Ann was involved in the establishment of Lady Musgrave Lodge (1891-1892) as a hostel and training place for immigrants and other ‘friendless’ girls. She also took part in agitation to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act of 1868 and held the position of secretary of the committee of the Lady Bowen Hospital from 1870 to 1879. In 1906 Ann Drew retired as ‘Foundress and Superintendent’ of the Female Refuge and Infants’ Home.

Margaret Olley is known as one of Australia’s most prized interior and still life painters. She first came to public attention as the subject of Sir William Dobell’s winning Archibald portrait in 1948. These days she is regarded as an Australian national treasure. In 1997 her work was the subject of a major retrospective organized by the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Zara Dare was 45 years-old when she applied for a position as a Queensland police officer. She had previously worked in China for the Salvation Army and, upon returning to Australia, she was an organiser of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Zara and her colleague, Ellen O’Donnell, commenced at the Roma Street Police Station in 1931. Neither of the women was sworn in and therefore did not receive the same pay allowances and privileges (including superannuation) as male officers. Zara’s work within the police force was restricted to looking after lost children, escorting female prisoners, and working with victims of domestic and sexual violence. Nine years after joining the police force, Zara retired to marry. It was not until 1965 that Queensland police women were officially sworn in and therefore entitled to some of the privileges enjoyed by men.

Ursula McConnel is recognised as an influential anthropologist of the Cape York Peninsula and a talented amateur photographer. McConnel used her photographs to illustrate publications of her research in magazines and ethnographic journals such as Oceania and Walkabout. She was also a collector of Indigenous artefacts.

Content added for original entry by Lee Butterworth, last modified 11 June 2009

As one of the first students of A. R. Radcliffe-Brown’s Australian tenureship, Ursula McConnel conducted ethnographic fieldwork as a participant-observer in western Cape York Peninsula between 1927 and 1934. She worked chiefly among the Wik peoples, particularly the Wik Mungkan based at Aurukun Mission. As part of her anthropological study McConnel amassed a substantial material culture collection of over five hundred artefacts. Together with Donald Thomson’s collection from the same area, it forms a unique record of Wik Mungkan material culture from that period. In 2006 a large collection of professional papers belonging to Ursula was discovered and donated to the South Australian Museum.

Meta Overman was a Dutch-born composer who studied piano and composition with leading figures in Rotterdam before emigrating to Western Australia in 1951. She earned accolades for her works, which included choral, instrumental, chamber pieces, ballets and operas. After lengthy sojourns in both Melbourne and Holland, she returned to Perth in 1978, where she remained until her death in 1993.