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Agnes McWHINNEY

Born 25 September 1891, Died 4 August 1987

Also known as: Agnes Osborne

1915 — Agnes McWhin­ney was the first woman to be admit­ted as an attor­ney and to prac­tice law in Queensland.

Elinor Caroline WRAY

Born 30/10/1899, Died 4/2/1992

1936 — Only Speech Ther­a­pist in Aus­tralia and New Zealand.
First Speech Ther­a­pist at Spas­tic Cen­tre, Mos­man, New South Wales.
1981 — Appoint­ed Mem­ber of the Order of the British…

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Margaret Gwen HARDY

Born 5 August 1926, Died 7 December 2001

Also known as: née Sutcliffe

First woman shire pres­i­dent of Lily­dale, Victoria.
First and only woman com­mis­sion­er of the then Mel­bourne Met­ro­pol­i­tan Board of Works, Victoria.

1977 — Award­ed the Queen’s…

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Beatrice Deloitte DAVIS

Born 28 January 1909, Died 24 May 1992

Also known as: Beatrice Deloitte Bridges

Syd­ney art grad­u­ate, Beat­rice Davis became Aus­trali­a’s first full-time pro­fes­sion­al book edi­tor when she joined Angus & Robert­son in 1937.
1967 — Award­ed Mem­ber of the Order…

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Ellen Harriet LINES

Born 1915, Died 8/9/2008

Also known as: Nell, née Colson

Cen­tral Aus­tralian Pio­neer. Matri­arch of COL­SON and LINES families.

​“A more com­pre­hen­sive nar­ra­tion of Nel­l’s life and that of her broth­ers, and par­tic­u­lar­ly of her…

Louisa Ann MEREDITH

Born 20/07/1812, Died 21/10/1895

Also known as: née Twamley

1880 — First women in Aus­tralia to design a postage stamp. She sketched the platy­pus on a Tas­man­ian Duty Stamp. Two years lat­er these stamps were autho­rised for postal use.…

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Pippa TESSMAN

Born 1961

2006 — Win­ner North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry West­pac Busi­ness Own­er award.
2009 — Select­ed to rep­re­sent the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry on the inau­gur­al Phys­io­ther­a­py Board of Australia.…

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Irene M. HALL

Also known as: Irene Shackcloth

Pio­neer of radio writ­ing for chil­dren. Her first work was broad­cast on ABC in 1936. Her radio ser­i­al play ​“The Faka­m­a­gangees” was on the air with 3DB Jean Lawson’s children’s session…

Marie Roslyn BASHIR

Born 1 December 1930

Also known as: Dr Bashir, Marie Shehadie, Dame Marie Bashir

From 2001 – 2009, Marie Bashir was New South Wales’ first female Gov­er­nor; in 2001, she was award­ed the Com­pan­ion of the Order of Aus­tralia; from 2007 – 2012, she was the Chancellor…

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Catherine Amelia WELLS

Born 17/9/1868

Also known as: née Long, Kate

Kate was the first white woman to live at Alice Springs.
Drove the mail and pas­sen­ger coach from Alice Springs to Ood­na­dat­ta when her hus­band was too drunk to drive.

Moira Therese KELLY

Born 31/1/1964

Award­ed ​‘Sir ​‘Weary’ Dun­lop Memo­r­i­al Award
1988 — Named Aus­tralian Bicen­ten­ni­al Young Woman of the Year

Aid Work­er — dubbed ​‘Aus­trali­a’s Mother…

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Ethel STEWART

Born 05/1907

Also known as: née Sinclair, Isa

Win­ner of the 1985 Aus­tralian Jack-Be-Nim­ble Cham­pi­onships (Knuck­le Bone (Jacks) Champion).

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Emma Mary WITHNELL

Born 19/12/1842, Died 16/05/1928

Also known as: née Hancock

One of the first women in West­ern Aus­tralia to be made a Jus­tice of the Peace.

Set­tled near Mt Wel­come in 1864. Her son, James, found the gold bear­ing stone which start­ed the…

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Beverley Ann BUCKINGHAM

Born 15 March 1965

Also known as: née Buckingham, Beverley Buckingham-King, Bev

1980s — Aus­trali­a’s pre­mier female jock­ey. The first female jock­ey in the south­ern hemi­sphere to win 1000 races.
1984 — First woman to ride in the Caulfield Cup.
1995 – 1996 — Rides…

Ruth Sabina HEATHCOCK

Born 11 January 1901, Died 7 May 1995

Also known as: née Rayney, Sister Ruth

First white woman to be tak­en by the Abo­rig­ines into ​‘Ruined City’ in Arn­hem Land, North­ern Territory.

1951 — Award­ed Order of the British Empire (OBE), for row­ing 145…

Emily DUTTON

Born 13 November 1884, Died 11 May 1962

Also known as: née Martin

1921 — First woman to dri­ve across Australia.

​Edith May LAVER

Also known as: née Parker

Edith May Park­er mar­ried Jack Laver after World War I. They lat­er took up the Stu­art Arms Hotel licence, and with their son Robert (Bob), trav­elled on the train from South Australia…

Ruby TILMOUTH

Born 11/1915, Died 09/2005

Also known as: née Schaber

Pio­neer and Activist of Cen­tral Australia.1950s — Led and orga­nized a protest march against a racist cur­few in Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

Jessie Catherine COUVREUR

Born 28 October 1848, Died 23 October 1897

Also known as: née Huybers, Tasma

In the ear­ly days of set­tle­ment, there were women colonists who trav­elled back­wards and for­wards between Eng­land and Aus­tralia, which in itself was some­thing of an adven­ture. Some,…

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Bess Nungarrayi PRICE

Born October 1960

Chair of Coun­cil, Indige­nous Advi­so­ry Coun­cil to sug­gest ways to curb Indige­nous disadvantage.2012 — Nom­i­nat­ed for US Inter­na­tion­al Women of Courage award.

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Sophia Jane DANE

Born 1831, Died 1919

Also known as: née Field

First white woman at Stawell, Vic­to­ria, and her daugh­ter Flo­rence is con­sid­ered the ​“first white child born on the gold fields”.

The Dane Memo­r­i­al Seat, Stawell,…

Bertha BEECROFT

Born 15 July 1906, Died 19 December 1996

Also known as: Bertha Rosen

1972 — Mem­ber (Civ­il) of The Order of the British Empire, Community.
1976 – 1977 — First woman chair of Lot­ter­ies Com­mis­sion of West­ern Australia.

1954 – 1984 — Ms. Beecroft was a…

Denise ALLEN

1983 — First observ­er woman post­ed to Queens­land 1984 — First woman post­ed to Willis Island 1986 — First woman to win­ter on the Antarc­tic Con­ti­nent for the Bureau of Mete­o­rol­o­gy 1988 -…

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Enid Majorie RUSSELL

Born 10 March 1904, Died 1958

1931 — First woman called to bar in West­ern Australia.

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Agnes DUBOIS

Born 17 August 1914, Died 9 January 2009

Also known as: née Draper, Aunty Agnes

Born at Hamil­ton Downs and arrived in Alice Springs when one (1) week old. Lived in the chil­dren’s home behind the Stu­art Arms Hotel and Jay Creek before set­tling at the Old…

Elizabeth Ellen HUDSON

Died 29 August 1986

Also known as: née Nicol

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Long-stand­ing mem­ber, devot­ed worker.
​“Eliz­a­beth was known as ​‘The Queen of the Bark­ly’ … They sold the Rankin store and moved to Alice Springs…

Gloria Joan Liles CHILD

Born 1921, Died 23 February 2013

Also known as: Joan

First woman Aus­tralian Labor Par­ty (ALP) mem­ber in the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives (1974)

Aus­trali­a’s first woman Speak­er of either House of the Fed­er­al Par­lia­ment (House of…

Anastasia WITHERS

Born 1825, Died 19 May 1889

Also known as: née Splain

First woman on the Bendi­go goldfield.

One of three women who made the Eure­ka flag which had first been flown as the stan­dard of ​‘The Bal­larat Reform League’ on 29^th…

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Judith Olga STACK

Born 1/02/1952

Also known as: Judi

2000 — First woman chair of the Fed­er­a­tion of Com­mer­cial Tele­vi­sion Stations.

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Shirley SMITH

30 June 1972 — Start of pri­vate flight of 13,000 miles (75 hours) in Aztec Tan­go Oscar Kilo with a crew of four. Shirley being the pilot — Moorab­bin, Mel­bourne, Vic­to­ria, to Rangoon…

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Jane DAVIS

Died 1800

Also known as: née Reid

Con­vict who arrived on ​“Lady Juliana” on 30 July 1790. Mar­ried and went to live on Nor­folk Island.

Emilie DAVIS

Also known as: Babs

Writ­ten on the back of the draw­ing: Short-term member.

Joan Winifred ALLSOP

Born 10 November 1912, Died 12 October 2000

Aus­tralian adult edu­ca­tor. With the assis­tance of a grant, All­sop was able to attend Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty in New York, where she became the first Aus­tralian to obtain a doc­tor of…

Evelyn Orlina TREVASKIS

Born 1880, Died 1966

Also known as: née Holmes, Bessie, Eveline

Teacher, land girl, pio­neer. Her sto­ry (auto­bi­og­ra­phy) is in file.

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Michelle NYKAMP

Aus­trali­a’s first woman to gain a Dan­ger­ous Goods Licence.

Road Train Dri­ver — Trav­els 250,000kms a year in a 50m rig.

Kylie TENNANT

Born 12/03/1912, Died 28/02/1988

1935 — Win­ner of the S. H. Pri­or Memo­r­i­al Prize for her first pub­lished nov­el Tiburon.

1942 — Aus­tralian Lit­er­ary Soci­ety gold medal for The Battlers.

1960 — Won Children’s…

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Dorothy Annie MEYERS

Also known as: Anne

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…

Marie Yvonne COLEMAN

Born March 1933

Also known as: née Burns

She was edi­tor of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney stu­dent news­pa­per, Honi Soit, and was only the sec­ond woman to hold that title.

1972 – 1975 — Appoint­ed as first chair of the Nation­al Social…

Nancy MANTHORPE

Born 1929

Also known as: Nan

An avi­a­trix on the muse­um’s Avi­a­trix Tapestry.

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Dianne YERBURY

Born 25 March 1941

Also known as: Emeritus Professor Dianne Yerbury, Dr Dianne Yerbury

In 1987 Dianne Yer­bury became the first female Vice-Chan­cel­lor in Aus­tralia (Mac­quar­ie Uni­ver­si­ty), a role she held until 2007.

She is cur­rent­ly the inau­gur­al Chair of the Crescent…

Muriel Grace CRABTREE

Born 9 April 1908, Died 18 December 2010

Bio­chemist and artist. Crab­tree was asso­ci­at­ed with the Mel­bourne Uni­ver­si­ty Wom­en’s Col­lege ​“for almost 50 years as a grad­u­ate, res­i­dent, res­i­dent tutor, vice-prin­ci­pal, acting…

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Anita TURNER

Died 29/01/2006

Award­ed gold Badge and Cer­tifi­cate of Mer­it for ded­i­cat­ed ser­vice to Returned & Ser­vices League (RSL) (high­est award to a non-RSL member).

Life Mem­ber of Alice Springs…

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Isabelle Elizabeth MERRY

Born 22/02/1907, Died 16/05/2000

Also known as: Belle

1937 — First woman ordained in Vic­to­ria of any denomination.
Became first full time chap­lin to Queen Vic­to­ria Hos­pi­tal, which was the first time a full-time chap­lin was appoint­ed to a…

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Julia PITCHER

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.

Daisy May BATES

Born 16/10/1863, Died 18/4/1951

Also known as: Daisy May O'Dwyer

Daisy May Bates led a colour­ful life which includ­ed three mar­riages two of which are pre­sum­ably big­a­mous and pos­si­ble change/​changes of name for what­ev­er rea­son. Her first mar­rage was…

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Mary SANDERCOCK

1970s — First female Prop­er­ty Val­uer in South Australia.

Stella

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…

Bobbie TERRY

With Jean Gar­diner, was the first woman to own her own air­craft (a De Sout­ter) which she flew on fam­i­ly prop­er­ty in Quirin­di, New South Wales.

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Jillian Kay TEUBNER

Born 19/10/1941, Died 12/11/2002

First female Woodville High School Stu­dent to gain a PhD.
First South Aus­tralian woman to gain a PhD in Organ­ic Chemistry.

Sci­en­tist and Med­ical Educator.

Diamantina BOWEN

Born 1833, Died 17 November 1893

Also known as: née Roma, Contessa Diamantina Roma, Lady Bowen

1859 — As the Gov­er­nor’s wife, she became First Lady of Queens­land on the sep­a­ra­tion of Queens­land from New South Wales.1864 — The Lady Bowen ​‘Lying In Hos­pi­tal’ was…