
Edith
Cowan photograph neg.2483 National
Library of Australia
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THE NATIONAL
LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA'S FEDERATION
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COWAN, EDITH DIRCKSEY (1861-1932)
Social worker and politician, was
born at Geraldton, W.A. on 2 August 1861, the daughter of K. Brown,
pastoralist, and his wife Mary nee Wittenoom. In 1879 Edith married James
Cowan, registrar and master of the Supreme Court. When he was appointed police
magistrate, Mrs. Cowan became interested in social questions: the franchise for
women, day nurseries, and the boarding-out system.
In 1915 she was
appointed a member of the Bench of the newly formed Children's Court, on which
she sat for 18 years. During World War I she was a leading member of Red Cross
and took part in various war-time activities; in 1920 she became a Justice of
the Peace and was appointed OBE.
In 1921 Mrs. Cowan was elected to the
Legislative Assembly and became the first woman member of any parliament in
Australia. She lost her seat in 1924 but she had succeeded in amending the
Administration Act so that mothers were placed on an equality with fathers when
their children died intestate, and in introducing the Women's Legal Status Act.
She died in Perth on 9 June 1932.
Books of
interest
Cowan, Edith Dircksey. (1996). The voice of
Edith Cowan, Australia's First Woman Parliamentarian 1921-1924. Harry C.J.
Phillips; illustrator, Gaye Godfrey. Perth, W.A: Edith Cowan University.
Cowan, Peter. (1978). A Unique Position: a Biography of Edith
Dircksey Cowan, 1861-1932/ Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia
Press.
Wycherley, Paul. Mrs. (1997). Cowan's Clock: the Location of
the Edith Cowan Memorial. Churchlands, W.A: Edith Cowan University.
The National Library of Australia has a biographical cuttings file for
Edith Cowan. |