The Australian Women's Register

The Temperance Alliance of South Australia was inaugurated on 15th August 1884 as a result of the failure of existing temperance organizations to accommodate moderate drinkers who were nevertheless interested in the reform of the liquor trade. The general aim of the Alliance was to educate the public on the dangers of excessive drinking. Emphasis was placed on educating the young and the South Australian Band of Hope Union was formed in 1916 to address this. The Alliance was a strong organization and provided valuable support for other temperance organizations such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in joint projects such as the fight for women’s suffrage. For instance the Alliance was part of a Temperance Electoral Committee that sent out copies of a pamphlet entitled ‘How to vote’. Matthew Wood Green, pastor of the Grote Street Christian Church, became general secretary of the Alliance in 1888 and edited the Alliance and Temperance News, a publication that supported women’s suffrage and opened the subject to men as well. Although this organization was not a women’s organization per se, women played an active role via the Women’s Committee.

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) began in Australia in 1915 as The Sisterhood of International Peace, with the motto ‘Justice, Friendship and Arbitration’. In 1919 the sisterhood heard of the WILPF and became the Australian Section of the League after sending a delegate to the 1919 conference in Zurich. The League ‘aims at bringing together women of different political and philosophical tendencies united in their determination to study, make known and help abolish the political, social, economic and psychological causes of war, and to work for a constructive peace’. (from ‘Aims, Principles and Policies’ a pamphlet printed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Australian Section in 1965.) The League also maintained ties with other organizations such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Society of Friends and Save the Children Fund. Ellinor Walker was one of the early secretaries of the League but unfortunately most of the papers pertaining to that time are missing. The WILPF operated as a study group in the 1950s and went into recess in 1965, before being revitalised in response to the Vietnam War. The League vigorously protested against the war and conscription, and used means such as preparing submissions to parliamentary inquiries, sending out pamphlets and organising rallies. Margaret Forte was one of the more active members during the latter period being at various times Secretary, Section Liaison, Junior Media Peace Project convenor and representing the WILPF on other committees such as United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) (South Australia), Status of Women Committee, People for Nuclear Disarmament, and Time for Peace.

Mary Lee became secretary of the Women’s Suffrage League of South Australia in 1888. She served with the Female Refuge ladies’ committee, the Distressed Women’s and Children’s Committee and the Adelaide Sick Poor Fund, and was secretary of the Working Women’s Trades Union.

Veronica Brodie (née Wilson) was born at the Point McLeay Mission. She moved to the Port Adelaide area in 1971, an area to which her grandmother’s had links. For a time Brodie worked with the local Aboriginal Community including an Aboriginal Friendship Club for parents and children at the Port Adelaide Central Methodist Mission. She has been involved with the development of the regional Aboriginal Co-ordinating Committee; Kura Yerlo, the Aboriginal Centre in Largs Bay and the Nunga Miminis Women’s Shelter.

Born at Point Pass in 1901, Jessie March was educated at Adelaide High School and Teachers Training College. She joined the New Britain Methodist Mission in 1925, becoming principal of Vunairima Girls School in 1939. In 1940 she was a governess at Brachina Station in the Flinders Ranges. She was also a Croker Island Methodist Mission teacher in 1941 before being evacuated in 1942. After the war she taught in state government schools before returning to New Britain in 1967. She moved to Papua New Guinea’s eastern highlands in 1971 to translate bibles. Her life and work have been commemorated by the Jessie March Library at George Brown High School, New Britain.

The Lyceum Club Adelaide Incorporated was founded in 1922 by Helen Mayo who became its first president. Its object was to advance the status of women in professional life and in art and letters.

Dr Winifred Wall spent her childhood in Broken Hill and Georgetown in the mid north of South Australia. After attending bush schools she went to Gladstone and Adelaide High Schools. Wall won a scholarship to study medicine at Adelaide University (1918-1922). She then worked at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where her duties included treating returned servicemen from World War I. She married Dr Fred Wall, they had four children, and she established a private practice. During World War II she returned to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where she specialised in anesthesia. Foundation president of the Family Planning Association (South Australia), Wall was awarded Life membership of the Royal District Nursing Society, the Australian Medical Association and the British Medical Association. On 26 January 1979 Dr Wall was appointed a member of the Order of Australia for service to the community, particularly in the field of women’s affairs.

The daughter of Edward and Amy (née Thiselton) Dolling, Alison Dolling was born in St Peters and grew up in Tranmere, South Australia. She was educated at Ellerslie College, Tranmere, and Methodist Ladies College, Wayville, before studying at the universities of Adelaide, Washington, Seattle, Berkeley and King’s College, London. Returning to Australia she taught in both South Australia and New South Wales, including ex-servicemen after World War II. Dolling joined the Chronicle newspaper as the editor of the Women’s Pages and was unemployed after the Chronicle closed down. Her publications include Chronicle cameos and a district history of Marion. She completed research on John Harvey and the Spoehr family, as well as being involved with family history and German ancestry. She also worked on the book South Australian Women Artists by Shirley Cameron Wilson. Dolling’s special interests included Australian history, especially early architecture, literature and art.

Esther Bright worked in the Education Department for 40 years as an infants teacher and finally as Inspector of Schools. She was a long standing member of the Adelaide Lyceum Club.

Kemeri Murray attended Adelaide University, graduating in 1953 in Law and 1954 in Arts. She studied piano under Raymond O’Connell while doing articles at Vaughan, Porter and English, a well known South Australian Law firm. After being admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of South Australia she transferred to Brian Magarey and was offered a partnership, making her the first married woman to be offered a partnership in South Australia. In 1973 she was offered a position on the Bench with the District Court of South Australia, thus becoming the second woman judge in South Australia. A member of the Flinders University Council, in 1978 she was appointed to the Advisory Council for Inter-Government Relations.

The Country Women’s Association of Victoria was founded in 1928. It is a non-sectarian, non-party-political, non-profit lobby group working predominantly in the interests of women and children in rural areas. It’s first president (1928-1932) was Lady Mitchell.
The Association was formed partly in response to the formation of similar groups in other states. A major objective since its foundation was to ‘arrest the [population] drift from rural areas’-a problem which persists today. Its major activities have revolved around the provision of services to its members and the improvement of amenities in rural areas.

The Country Women’s Association of the Western is a non-sectarian, non-party-political, non-profit lobby group and service association working in the interests of women and children in rural areas. Although ostensibly non-party-political, in practice the group has tended to bolster conservative politics and has supported traditional family roles for women. Historically, it was, however, also a progressive force in many ways, particularly in its encouragement of country women to take an active part in public affairs, and also in its lobby for and provision of services to rural areas.

Given its size and scope, it was arguably the most influential women’s organisation in Western Australia in the twentieth century.

Lorna Esme Adams, née Eames, was born in Torrensville, South Australia. She trained at the Adelaide Teachers’ College and met her future husband after taking up her second teaching post at Black Hill in 1942. In 1945 they began dairy farming at Black Hill, moving to Paracombe three years later. After their infant son died of cystic fibrosis and their older boy was also diagnosed, they decided to settle at Ponde for the drier climate. Their second son died in 1955. Lorna has had three enduring interests; the Girl Guides movement and the Country Women’s Association, both of which she has represented at State level, and the Holstein-Fresian dairy cattle stud that she and her husband developed. Lorna and her husband Jack’s surviving daughter has had nine children.

Formed in 1935 in response to the long felt need for an organization that advanced women’s interests and stimulated their creativity, the Western Australian Women’s Society of Fine Arts and Crafts exemplified practical women-centred responses to the exclusion of women in the arts establishment. Three key periods of expansion were: the late 1940s, when work as a teaching society began in earnest; the mid 1960s, when memberships numbered 136; and the late 1970s and early 1980s, when craft had a renaissance and the organisation’s numbers swelled. The Subiaco property, purchased in 1973, still serves as headquarters and continues to host classes in a range of crafts.

Established in 1993 the Centre for Research for Women is a joint initiative between Curtin University of Technology, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia. Based on a model of inter-university collaboration, the centre promotes feminist research across disciplines, universities, the community and the public sector. The Centre for Research for Women maintains an extensive database of expertise aimed at expanding research opportunities and the dissemination of research programmes. Every three years the location of the centre rotates to another of the participating universities.

Joan Williams was a prominent member of the Western Australian branch of the Communist Party of Australia. She was politically active from the 1920s, but began her career in journalism as a young woman already imbued with a strong political consciousness. The networks fostered through her membership in an elite group of Western Australian left-wing radicals were critical to the foundation of numerous Western Australian women’s and peace organisations. Under the pen name Justina Williams she wrote short stories, historical works, poems, biography and her autobiography Anger and Love. She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal accepting it on behalf of her “unrecognized sisters who serve the community”.

The formation of the Western Australian Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity in 1958 marked the beginning of a sixteen year long campaign seeking justice for women workers. The effectiveness of the campaign can be attributed to the wide ranging representation of affiliated groups, which included women’s organizations, trade unions and representatives from across the political spectrum. The organization dissolved in 1973 when discriminatory clauses were removed from State legislation and the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission decided in favour of equal pay.

Faith, Hope, Charity is an online exhibition listing over 4000 women recipients of Imperial Honours in Australia during the twentieth century, recognising their significant contributions and achievements. Biographical entries on a selection of women have been prepared in the Australian Women’s Archives Project register, containing links to further bibliographical and archival resources.

Originally known as Livingstone House in Carlton, then as Livingstone Home in Cheltenham in 1891, the Methodist Homes for Children provided temporary care for abused or neglected children while waiting for them to go to homes in the country. The Committee, which comprised mainly women, wanted to ensure that the children were cared for in a home like atmosphere rather than that of an institution. As demand for such accommodation increased, children remained at the Homes until they completed their education. On their move to Burwood in 1953,The Homes were subsequently known as Orana, The Peace Memorial Homes for Children and from 1989 Orana Family Services. In 1989, at the request of the State government, the organisation moved to its present location in Meadow Heights.

Artemis was established in 1985 as a forum for women artists, art teachers, critics and writers. It sought to foster discussion and interest in the practice and ideas of women’s art, promote community awareness of women’s contribution to the arts, support women working in the arts and set up independent feminist criticism in order to address the perceived inequalities in Western Australia’s arts establishment. Artemis aimed to activate critical appraisal of patriarchal culture and its effects on art history, practice and theory to redefine women’s art practice in her own image. Artemis disbanded in 1990 due to the discontinuation of funding.

After attempts to establish a lending library at the Women’s Centre Action Group and Camp Books failed, Lespar Library of Women’s Liberation moved to purpose built facilities on Karin Hoffmann’s Darlington property. It operated on an open by appointment basis for twelve years. A key objective was to provide resources and facilities for women centred research. The library also acted as a repository, eventually housing the archives of various women’s organizations and individuals on a permanent basis.

Born in Wartburg Germany in 1941 Karin Hoffmann developed her “pragmatic, rather than ideological,” views on feminism and the women’s movement through friendships and associates while living in Paris. In 1974 she moved to Western Australia and in 1975 joined the Women’s Centre Action Group and Women’s Electoral Lobby intending to “do what was useful” to enhance the status of women in society. In 1977 she created a feminist and, although nobody used that word at the time, lesbian library. Hoffmann participated in a range of activities associated with the women’s movement including the “Out of the Guilded Cage” radio broadcasts and two feminist tours of significant Western Australian sites.

Founded 25 March 1909 the Women’s Service Guilds of Western Australia formed a core feminist connection for the exchange of feminist strategies and ideas with international feminism for much of the twentieth century. While typified as conservative, the Guilds anticipated many radical trends and were at the forefront of activism which challenged the political and social boundaries that excluded from participating fully in society. They worked to raise the status of women and improve the welfare of children, primarily through legislative reform and initiated a wide range of campaigns on local, national and international levels.

Isabella Johnston (née Miller) was born at Barrhead, Scotland in 1891. She joined her aunt Amelia MacDonald in Perth, Western Australia, in 1910 and became active in the Perth Women’s Service Guilds of which her aunt [Amelia MacDonald] was a founder member.

A tireless campaigner and activist for over fifty years, Irene Adelaide Greenwood’s interests in feminism and the peace movement were formed through her mother Mary Driver’s involvement with the Women’s Services Guild. The achievements of Greenwood’s life’s work are considerable and her commitment and energy was recognized in the many awards bestowed on her. These include Member of the Order of Australia, the first woman to receive an Honorary Doctorate at Murdoch University, recognition as the strategist behind the implementation of the Chair in Peace Studies at Murdoch University, the United Nations Association of Australia Silver Peace Medal and honorary life membership, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal, appointment to the National Advisory Committee on Women’s Affairs in 1974 and the naming of the flagship of the State ship’s fleet M.V. Irene Greenwood in her honour. Greenwood was also a life or honorary member of many key international, national and state peace and women’s organizations.

The National Labor Women’s Network ( NLWN) was established in 1996 and is the peak women’s organisation within the Australian Labor Party. It aims to increase the numbers of women active in the Labor Party at all levels, to facilitate and strengthen relationships between the state Labor women’s organisations and the National Network. Membership is open to all current financial women members of the Australian Labor Party. The National Executive comprises representatives from all states and territories. The current Convenor is Nicola Roxon, Federal Member for Gellibrand, Victoria.

The Federal Women’s Committee ( FWC) was established at the inaugural meeting of the Federal Council of the Liberal Party in August 1945. It is the peak body representing women in the Liberal Party and acts as a voice for women in the development of policy and party organisational matters. Its aims are to promote and encourage women to become involved in political life, to contribute effectively to the formulation of policy and to assist the Party in implementing its decisions through effective community interaction.