National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame presents the

HerStory Archive

This is a collection of stories which tell of the achievements of over 1,500 pioneering women in various fields. We are proud that our HerStory Archive brings Australian women and their achievements to light, and we hope that you enjoy discovering these inspiring women.

This archive contains more information about some women than others. As a small, not-for-profit museum, our limited resources often prevent us from collecting as much information as we would like. The information we do have, however, brings Australian women and their achievements to light. If you have additional information on any woman who features in our Herstory Archive, please contribute it here.

HerStory Home

MACKELLAR, Isobel Marion Dorothea

Born 1/7/1885, Died 1968

Also known as: Dorothea

Author the poem “My Country” and others including “The Closed Door,”, “The Witch Maid,” “Dream Harbour,” and “Fancy Dress.” Also wrote novels such as “Outlaws Luck,” “The Little Blue…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SUTHERLAND, F

A handful of European women accompanied their husbands to the mines. Mary Murphy, Betty O'Neil and F Sutherland signed a petition to get a polling booth there.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

HIGGINS, Joan

Also known as: née Scott

First Gymnastics teacher at Children's Social Club (later known as Youth Centre), Alice Springs. Joan Scott was stationed in Alice Springs during World War II where she met Jack…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

MILLER, Patricia Ann

Born 1947

Also known as: née Liddle, Pat

1995 - Named Aboriginal of the Year by National Aborigines and Islander’s Day Observance Committee.
1997 - Received award from National Aborigines and Islander’s Day Observance…
PENFOLD, Mary

Born 1820, Died 21/12/1895

Also known as: née Holt

Pioneer winemaker of Penfolds Winery (now Southcorp).
CARDONA, Elna Joy Cardona

Born 18/3/1956

Also known as: Joy Cardona

Joy Cardona is the first woman in Australian Rules to officiate a representative match. This was the Northern Territory versus Hawthorn in 1991, and she still has the score card! She…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SHARP, Claudine

First Australian woman awarded Certificate of Marine Engineering Class I.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

KILGARIFF, Eileen Elizabeth

Born 31/12/1891

Also known as: née Minahan

Mona Minahan came to Alice Springs in 1931 to visit her sister, Eileen Kilgariff.
WATSON, Jessica

Born 1993

At 16 years of age, Jessica was unofficially the youngest person to sail non-stop, unassisted around the world, completing her trip in May 2010. In 2010, Jessica was awarded…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WEBB, Hilary Joy

Also known as: Joy

Stella was an Allowera (Allyawarr) woman, Jane Webb's trusted Allyawarr Aboriginal friend, who lived at Mount Riddock Station with the Webb family for eighteen years.She helped…
MCINTOSH, Beryl Grace

Died 12/1/2013

Also known as: née Hansen

Some of her awards:1999 - Received International Women’s Day award.2000 - Selected to carry Sydney 2000 Olympics torch.2001 - Received Centenary medal.2002 - Awarded Palmerston Proud…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

BART, Nikki

Nikki along with her mother are the first women to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam, the Seven Summits which includes Mt Everest. May 2008. Together with her mother, Cheryl,…
MACKINNON, Mary Jane

Born 05/02/1881, Died 19/09/1964

Also known as: née Walsh, Jane

Wife of a drover and stock dealer. Lived at Government Bore on Charlotte Waters Telegraph Station where husband supplied water for camel trains between Maree and Alice Springs…
LEE, Mary

Born 14/2/1821, Died 18/9/1909

Also known as: née Walsh

1890 - Founder of the Working Women's Trade Union. In 1895 aged 74, she was nominated to stand for parliament for the United Labour Party but declined.
2001 - Inducted onto…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WORMALD, Jeanette

Composer and singer. Debut tape “Male Bride,” 1994. Three Top Ten Hits from the album Opal Blue.Golden Guitar nominee 2007 for Opal Blue.South Australian Great Award winner.CMAA…
CAIRNS, Joan

Born 7/1932, Died 27/6/2019

Joan Cairns was Australia’s first female anaesthetic technician. Joan worked at the Alice Springs Hospital and took the opportunity to study at the Mayfield Medical Centre in…
MELBA, Nellie

Born 19/05/1861, Died 23/02/1931

Also known as: née Helen Porter Mitchell, Nellie, Dame Nellie Melba

Australia's greatest opera singer.
1911 - First Australian opera super star.
First Australian singer to be recorded on cylinder.
First performer in the world to have an opera…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SKOSS, Lucy

Born 1966

Also known as: née Lisle

First Northern Territory woman to win “Best Yarn Spinner” at Adelaide festival organised by Story Telling Guild of South Australia.
Winner of the first-time entrant award at the…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

KIRK, Maureen Patricia

Born 13/9/1955, Died 23/4/2001

Also known as: née Brown

In 1987, Maureen became the first Indigenous volunteer cancer support worker in Australia. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and, at the time, there were no cancer…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

JOSHUA, Eadith Walker

Born 1897

Pioneer of Cobar and Wilcannia district, New South Wales. Wrote her life story, The Daisies at my Feet.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

CHETTLE, May Venetta

Born 20/05/1906, Died 26/08/1997

Also known as: née Robb, May, Maise, formerly Lawrie

Maise Robb was the first teacher at the Bungalow, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, when it moved to the Old Telegraph Station during the 1930s. She lived in town and drove to work…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

VINES, Dorothy Ada

Matron Vines and members of the Australian Army Nursing Service off to work in a truck nick-named 'Leaping Lena'.
LINES, Mary

Mrs Lines, believed to be called Mary, lived with her husband on the Winnecke goldfields. The main entertainment consisted of evening sing-songs accompanied by a small portable organ.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

MEIN-BEL, Mabel

Born 1934, Died 5/06/2016

Also known as: Mabel Jimarin

First Aboriginal woman to have quadruplets (all girls) in 1968, as well as the first Northern Territory quads. Then, in 1969, gave birth to twin girls. Nanagu group; Brinkin…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

STACY, Joy

Girl Guides In Service Social Worker with refugees in camps in Europe after World War II.
JAMES, Eileen

Born 1894, Died 1988

Also known as: née Edes, stage name was Ivy DARRELL

1910 - The youngest musician in the first concert party of The Association for the Advancement of the Blind, travelling with them for 18 years. Played in concert halls in 1913-1920s in…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

KABERRY, Phyllis Mary

Born 17/9/1910, Died 31/10/1977

1941 - First woman anthropologist awarded Yale Study Fellowship. 1930s-1960s - Published papers on her anthropological work in the Kimberley, Papua New Guinea and Cameroon. 1933 -…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

VICTORIAN LADIES YACHT CLUB,

First all female Yacht Club in Australia (maybe the world). Later known as the Hampton Sailing Club.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SUTHERLAND, Mary

Co-Founder of 'Tambo Teddies'.
ANDERSON, Maybanke

Born 1845, Died 15/4/1927

Also known as: Maybanke Wolstoneholme (the name from her first marriage). Maybanke wrote regularly as ‘Lois’ in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Worked with Rose Scott, Louisa Lawson, the Windeyer family and others on the struggle for women's suffrage and other legal, political and educational reforms. Helped found the…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

PARKER, Evangelia

Born 16/01/1908, Died 3/10/2005

Also known as: née Dioctitis, Ellen

A migrant from Greek Island of Kastellorizo who arrived in Darwin in early 1900s. Father worked on building railway line from Pine Creek to Katherine River.
SISELY, Lorna Verdun

Born 14/03/1916, Died 27/01/2004

Also known as: Dr Lorna Sisely

1947 - First woman in Victoria to be admitted to Fellowship of The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS), and the second person in Australia to gain that recognition). 1949 -…
MORCK, Leah

Born 1881, Died 10/05/1966

Wife of drover, cattleman, bushman of Western Australia and Northern Territory, Tom MORCK. At 15 Mrs MORCK was mother to her seven siblings after their mother's death. Managed…
PEARLMAN, Mahla Liane

Born 2/06/1937, Died 2/12/2011

Also known as: Hon. Justice Mahla Pearlman

Mahla Pearlman was the first woman to become chief judge of any jurisdiction within the state of New South Wales. 1981-1982 - First woman President of Law Society of New South…
SIMPER, Emily Elsie

Born 1905, Died 30/08/1999

Also known as: Sister Emily Simper

1933 - Possibly the only nurse to ever buy her own hospital, the Warrawee Private Hospital on Oxide Street, Broken Hill, New South Wales.
KILROY, Debbie

Born 1961

Also known as: née Harding

Debbie is a prison reformer and founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sisters Inside Inc. In 2007, Debbie was the first person in Australian with serious convictions to be admitted by…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

PITCHER, Julia

Also known as: Dr Julia Pitcher

Neurophysiologist. She and her team's research was named among the top 10 health and medical research projects in Australia.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WRIGHT, Judith Arundell

Born 31/5/1915, Died 25/06/2000

Also known as: McKinney

Judith Wright has published more than fifty books and was the first Australian poet to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry (1992). She has also received many other prizes…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SCHULZ, Rowie

2003 - First Territorian to win the Australian Fitness Leader of the Year Award. Owner/manager of 'Essential Fitness' Fitness Club, Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
MENGEL, Eleanor

Born 1930

Also known as: née Petrick

Grew up on Mount Swan Station, Northern Territory and moved to Neutral Junction Station, Northern Territory after her marriage. Spent 42 years there in a life of sheep shearing and…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WILLIAMS, Telka
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SMITH, Christian Brynhild Ochiltree Jollie

Born 15/03/1885, Died 14/01/1963

Also known as: Christian Jollie Smith

1918 - First woman taxi-driver in Melbourne (under trade name “Pamela Brown”). 1912 - Admitted Solicitor by the Supreme Court of Victoria.1914 - Second woman to be admitted as a…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

SMITH, Topsy

Born 1875, Died 1960

Topsy, born about 1875, was the daughter of Mary Kemp, of Arabana Aboriginal descent, and Arthur Evans, an Oodnadatta policeman. In the early 1890s she married William (Bill) Smith, a…
KING, Nene Claire

Born 3/1943

Nene King was the first woman to sit on the board of Kerry Packer's publishing and broadcasting company which controls the Nine Network and Consolidated Press. Nene worked on…
LYNDON, Maree

1987 - First female jockey in Australia to ride in the Melbourne Cup.
STARK, Amy Gwendoline

Born 3/04/1910, Died 28/11/1994

Also known as: née Stark, Gwen, Starkie, Gwen Caldwell

1941 - First service woman recruited by WAAAF in New South Wales. On 40th Anniversary of Anzac Day, she was the first woman honoured to give the Dawn Service Address in Sydney.
1968 -…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

MEYERS, Annie

Also known as: nee Williams

Annie Williams arrived in Alice Springs in the late 1890s. Here she married Charlie Meyers (aka Aaron Schunke), the local saddler. They had four children: Dorothy Annie, Herman John…
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

THOMPSON, Jennifer

Born 1951

Aboriginal health worker, Alice Springs Hospital, Northern Territory.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WOODBURN, Bettina Mathilde

Born 6/12/1923, Died 1/1/2015

Also known as: née Bromley

Inaugural winner of Seniors Card Get Up and Go award - aged 78 years.
For various reasons, it has not been possible to include a photo with this Archive entry. If you’d like to come forward with photos, please see the Contribute page at the bottom left

WALLACE, Lennie

Born 2/10/1930, Died 13/10/2013

Also known as: née Waddell, Ninda

Author of 'Leaves From The Peninsula' and 'Bitten by the Bull Bug'. Pioneer of Cape York station life.