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

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

MCKAY, Heather Pamela

Born 31/07/1941

Also known as: née Blundell

1977 - First woman to win the major International Squash Championship - 16 years in succession.
1999 - Became first player admitted as a member of the Women's International Squash…
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

MCRAE, Eileen

Born 13/07/1932

Also known as: née Bird

Granddaughter of Fred and Isobelle PRICE. (Fred PRICE was Telegraph Master at Old Telegraph Station, Alice Springs, 1916-24.)Daughter of Pearl POWELL.Author of By Packhorse and…
KEMP, Pat

Also known as: Sister, Doc

Pioneer Nurse. Arrived at Docker River in the Northern Territory in 1975 and stayed working at the clinic for 22 years.
PRENTICE, Una Gailey

Born 6/11/1913, Died 25/03/1986

Also known as: née Bick, Dr Una Prentice

1938 - First woman to graduate from Law in Queensland University, and the first woman graduate to be admitted to the Queensland Bar.
First woman Barrister to appear as Prosecutor on…
JULL, Roberta Henrietta

Born 1872, Died 1961

Also known as: Roberta Ferguson-Stewart and Roberta Stewart

1897 - Western Australia's first woman doctor .
1897/8 - Foundation member of the British Medical Association, Western Australian Branch, Perth.
1918 - First medical Officer of…
MAC KILLOP, Mary Helen

Born 15/1/1842, Died 8/8/1909

17 Oct 2010 - Australia's first Catholic saint - Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross - Canonized in Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI.
2001 Victorian Honour Roll of Women. n 1867…
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RIDE, Susan

Also known as: née Higgins

1966 - Leader of Australia's first all Aboriginal Brownie pack.
Centralian of the Year with Sister Eileen HEATH.
1986 - Presented with Banksia Award for service to Guiding 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

TYRELL, Vashti

First female to win the Most Outstanding Undergraduate Saxophonist title in University of Adelaide's Elder School of Music Jazz Awards.
COLE, Kelly

2000 - Kelly walked with camels (and with Mark Swindells for part of the journey) from Western Australia's most westerly point to New South Wales most easterly point.
DEMPSTER, Marjory Florence

Born 1915, Died 09/11/1985

Also known as: née Walker, Marj, Marjorie

Wife of a Kidman stockman, Mick Dempster. Victoria River Downs. They were Top End pioneers.
VERSTAK, Tania

Also known as: née Verstak

1962 - First and only Australian to win Miss International Beauty competition. 1962 - Crowned Miss New South Wales.1962 - Crowned Miss Australia.
MCNAMARA, Blanche

Born 1859, Died 1900

1897-1900 - Blanche McNamara was the pioneering first woman school inspector in South Australia and also the first in Australia. She was appointed specifically to pay attention to the…
WATT, Kathryn

Born 11/09/1964

Also known as: Kathy

1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona - Australia's first female cycling gold medallist, 181 kilometer road race.
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

ROMARO, Cherie

Born 1950

Cherie was the first female radio music programmer, program director and radio network general manager in Australia. Featured in the book Women of Power (1990).
BURGES, Ricky

Ricky Burges was the first woman to head the Perth Zoo, when she became the Zoo's chief executive officer between 1995-1998. In 1997, Ricky was the Western Australian…
PRAED, Annie

Born 4/01/1872, Died 26/12/1948

Also known as: née Spraggs, Hannah

1895-1900 - One of first women to be practicing dentistry in Australia.
1903 - She became the first woman dental graduate in New South Wales to receive the L. D. S.
1905 -…
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

KAY, Belinda

Born 1881, Died 1903

1895 - After her pioneer sheep station parents, a brother and sister were tragically drowned in a boating accident, Belinda (aged 13 1/2 years) looked after her remaining three sisters…
KIEK, Winifred

Born 1884, Died 23/5/1975

Also known as: née Jackson

1923 - She became the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Divinity, Melbourne College of Divinity.
1927 - Winifred became the first woman ordained as a minister of the…
ARMFIELD, Lillian

Born 3/12/1884

Lillian Armfield was Australia's first policewoman. She was recruited as probationary special constable on 1 July, 1915, earned less than her male counterparts and was ot provided…
LONGMAN, Irene Maud

Born 24/4/1877, Died 29/7/1964

Also known as: née Bayley

1929-1932 - Was the first woman member of the Queensland Assembly, representing Bulimba.
ROADKNIGHT, Margret

Born 07/1943

First singer added to the Montsalvat Jazz Festival Honour Roll. 1998 - 'Artist Of The Year' at the Port Fairy Folk Festival.
Lifetime Achievement Award winner at the…
WALKER, Robyn Margaret

Born 1/07/1959

2011 - Robyn Walker became the first female in the Royal Australian Navy to attain the rank of Rear Admiral. This made her the first Australian woman to reach “two-star” rank in the…
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FIELD, Michelle

“In September 1988, three trailblazing women - Michelle Field, Jacqui Segger and Virginia Forbes (née Bell) - graduated alongside twenty men from the Victoria Street Training College…
MADDOCK, Sarah

Born 29/10/1860, Died 9/9/1955

Also known as: née Porter, Mrs E.A. Maddock

1893 - First Australian woman to achieve a long distance cycle ride from Sydney to bega.
1894 - First woman to cycle from Sydney to Melbourne.
SMITH, Gina

First deputy chairwoman of the Central Land Council. She and Rayleen BROWN founded Kungas Can Cook, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, an indigenous catering company.Ms SMITH opened…
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CRAVEN, Margaret

Also known as: née Craven

One of the first women police in the Northern Territory. All commenced their recruit training (with a number of men) in February 1961, and the course “passed out” on 10 April 1961. All…
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LAHY, Mary Patricia

Born 24/5/1928, Died 11/5/2004

1979 - Became Sydney University's first woman Dean of Arts.
1992 - She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, services to higher education. 1963 - Graduated with…
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…
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.
JOHNSON, Magdalene

Born 1/7/1905, Died 26/1/2010

Also known as: Maggie

Worked as drover, cook, teacher, carer. During World War II “she worked as a cook for hundreds of people” at the mission at Arltunga. At time of death, 2010, Alice Spring's oldest…
CAWLEY, Evonne Fay

Born 31/07/1951

Also known as: née Goolagong

First Aboriginal Australian to win the prestigious Wimbledon tennis singles title (1971) Tennis - Australian Open - won 4 times. French Open - won 1. Wimbledon - won 1971 & 1980Won…
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JOHNS, Noreen

Born 1925, Died 25/4/1997

Also known as: née Maloney

1952-55 - Teacher at Hartley Street School (first primary school in Alice Springs). 1970 - Returned to teaching at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic College, followed by Ross Park…
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LEVAI, Amy

Born 1930, Died 29/3/2013

Also known as: née O’Donoghue

First Indigenous teacher in South Australia.
1989 - Awarded NAIDOC Aboriginal of the Year; 1998 NAIDOC Aboriginal Elder of the Year.
2010 – Received award for Outstanding Service…
EVANS, Patricia Julianne

Also known as: née Morris

Qualified as an accountant in 1948, and in 1949, at 21, became the first female accountant to be employed by Bitumen and Oil Refineries (Australia) Limited (Boral). One of the earliest…
SLEE, Caroline Poolmann

Born 2/06/1861, Died 15/11/1916

Also known as: née Rebbeck, Nurse Slee

Pioneer nurse and midwife at Broken Hill, New South Wales.
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

STEGER, Winifred

Born 15/11/1882, Died 16/03/1981

Also known as: Winifred Stegar, Bebe Zatoon

Pioneer of South Australia. With her husband, they carted supplied to remote places on their camels. Author of the book Always Bells.
ARCHER, Mary Ellinor Lucy

Born 13/11/1893, Died 3/5/1979

Also known as: Ellinor Archer professionally

Mary Archer was CSIRO's first woman scientist, and chief librarian from 1923-1954. She is commemorated by the Library Association of Australia's Ellinor Archer award, first…
MCCOY, Isabella Elizabeth

Born 1891, Died 1971

Also known as: née Pope, Bella, Ina

1926-28 - One of two nursing sisters of the Australian Inland Mission appointed to Adelaide House Hospital, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Written on the back of the drawing: One…
THOMS, Patience Rosemary

Born 13/09/1915, Died 2/03/2006

Also known as: Pat Thoms

1968 - Appointed first Australian (and first from the Southern Hemisphere) President of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women.
LYNCH, Rose

Born 1885
TRASK, Diana Roselyn

Born 23/06/1940

Also known as: née Trask

1985 - First woman to sing at the Victorian Football League Grand Final.
CLARK, Molly

Born 28/12/1922, Died 22/9/2012

Pioneer pastoralist of Northern Territory, having worked on Andado Station and then Old Andado Station (a 45 square kilometre area excised from the Andado Station lease). Pioneer of…
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STOTT, Eileen

Born 1912, Died 26/06/1999

Also known as: née O’Shea

Born in Pine Creek, Northern Territory. Pioneer of Northern Territory.1940 - Married Gordon STOTT (son of Robert STOTT, Northern Territory's first Commissioner of Police).
ANDREW, Marjorie

Marjorie Andrew worked for the Allied Works Council in Alice Springs and Darwin during World War Two (Alice Springs 1944-1945). One of the most pressing demands on Australia during…
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POOLE, Alma Jean

Born 1920

Also known as: née Kuhn, Jean
TURNER, Elizabeth K.

Born 19/08/1914, Died 26/12/1999

Also known as: EKT

First doctor in Australia to administer Penicillin.
1951 - First doctor to perform an exchange transfusion on a newborn in Victoria.
Only female Medical Superintendent at the Royal…
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RAGETT, May

Born 28/12/1955

Wife of a stockman on Mallapunyah Springs Station, bringing up her family, sending them to the station school then to Charters Towers for further education.
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

BARNES, Margaret

Also known as: Madge

1906 - One of first women to graduate in Dentistry from University of Sydney. 1910-1913 - Perhaps ran Australia's first joint female dental practice (with Annie Praed) in…
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LEE, Patsy

Born 1925, Died 20/6/2017

“Grand Old Dame of Fishing” in Gladstone, Queensland and possibly Australia's oldest and most experienced fisherwoman. Won Queensland titles.
MEIN, Joanne

Born 1971

Also known as: Jo

First lieutenant Joanne Mein is the first woman member of the Roulettes in the 30-year history of the Royal Australian Air Force's formation aerobatics team. R.A.A.F Flight…