Parliamentary Service |
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Electorates
- MLA West Perth, 12 March 1921–22 March 1924
- Contested West Perth 22 March 1924, 26 March 1927 (for WEL)
Historical Notes
- First woman member of any Australian Parliament and second woman to take her seat in a Commonwealth Parliament (after Lady Astor in the House of Commons)
- Introduced the Women’s Legal Status Bill as a private member, opened legal profession to women, 1923
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Personal Information |
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2 August 1861 |
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Glengarry near Geraldton, Western Australia |
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9 June 1932 |
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Subiaco, Western Australia |
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Karrakatta Cemetery, WA |
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Daughter of Kenneth Brown, pastoralist (son of early York, Western Australia, settlers Thomas and Eliza Brown), and his first wife Mary Elizabeth Dircksey Wittenoom (a teacher and daughter of Colonial Chaplain JB Wittenoom)
Niece of Maitland Brown, cousin of Sir Edward Wittenoom, and great aunt of Hendy Cowan |
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Married 12 November 1879, St Georges Cathedral, Perth, Western Australia to James Cowan (born 26 June 1848 and died 18 October 1937) (Registrar and Master of Supreme Court, Perth), son of Walkinshaw and Elizabeth Dyer
Children: one son and four daughters |
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Church of England |
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Educated at Misses Cowan’s boarding school, Perth, and with Canon Sweeting (ex-headmaster Bishop Hale’s School)
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Social worker |
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Officer of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order (of the British Empire (OBE) for Voluntary Red Cross work, Western Australia, 22 October 1920
Posthumously inducted into the WA Women's Hall of Fame 'Roll of Honour', 2011 |
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Involved in voluntary organisations, 1890s
First secretary of Karrakatta Women’s Club, later vice president and president, 1894
Advocate of State education, served several terms on North Fremantle Board of Education
Worked with Ministering Children’s League from 1891
With the House of Mercy for unmarried mothers (Alexandra House for Women) from 1894
Foundation member, Children’s Protection Society, 1906. Pioneered its 1909 day nursery for working mothers’ children. The Society was instrumental in the passing of State Children’s Act, 1907, which established the Children’s Court.
Appointed to bench of Children’s Court, 1915
Foundation member, Women’s Service Guild, 1909; vice-president to 1917
Prominent in Guild’s activities leading to opening of King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in 1916, secretary of Hospital Advisory Board
Prominent in creation of WA National Council for Women, president, 1913–1921, vice president until her death
Foundation member, co-Freemasonry in WA, 1916
First female member of Anglican Social Questions Committee from 1916
Co-opted member of synod from 1923
Prominent in controversy in women’s movement over amendments to the Health Act, supported clauses recommending compulsory notification of venereal disease, 1917
Chairman, Foodstuffs Committee of the Australian Division of the Red Cross Society, c1918-1928
Travelled Britain and Europe, 1903 and 1912
Australian delegate to 7th International Conference of Women, USA, 1925
Justice of the Peace, 1920
Awarded OBE as result of wide range of war work, 1920
Promoted migrant welfare, infant health centres, women’s rights
Founder of (Royal) WA Historical Society, 1926. Contributed to its journal
Active in planning WA centenary celebrations, 1929
Maintained her committee and social work until last illness
Included in the Karrakatta Historical Walk Trail: Walking with Western Australian Women, 13 March 2024 |
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D Black and G Bolton, eds, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia: volume one 1870-1930, Parliamentary History Project, Perth, WA, 2001, p. 54-55.
The London Gazette, 19 October 1920, p. 10096. Accessed 15 January 2018. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32090/page/10096
Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website. Accessed 26 March 2024. https://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/our-cemeteries/karrakatta-cemetery/karrakatta-historical-walk-trails/karrakatta-walk-trail-three-points-of-interest/
WA Women's Hall of Fame website: https://wawomenshalloffame.com.au/roll-of-honour/ Accessed 20 March 2024
Western Mail, 20 December, p. 4. Accessed 15 January 2018. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37605168 |
Bibliography |
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Margaret Brown, 'Cowan, Edith Dircksey (1861–1932)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cowan-edith-dircksey-5791/text9823, published first in hardcopy 1981, accessed online 17 December 2015.
P Cowan, A Unique Position.
R Erickson, ed, The bicentennial dictionary of Western Australians, pre-1829-1888, volume I. A-C, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, 1987.
Making a Difference, p. 59–64.
Making a Difference chapter 5. Edith Cowan.pdf |