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

PETRICK, José

Born 14/02/1924

Also known as: née Tizard

Winner of the Chief Minister's Women's Achievement Award and the Alice Springs branch of Zonta International.
Woman of Achievement Award.
January 2000 - Awarded an Order of…
ARNOT, Allana

Born 1967

Also known as: Allana Corbin

In 1997 Allana Arnot became the first woman to circumnavigate Australia solo in a helicopter. She accomplished this after teaching herself how to walk and fly again following a plane…
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

STEELE, Joyce Wilfred

Born 29/05/1909, Died 24/05/1991

Also known as: née Wishart

1966 - First South Australian woman to become Opposition Whip in South Australian Parliament.
1968 - First South Australian woman to achieve Cabinet rank in South Australian Parliament…
TATE, Pamela

2003 - First woman appointed Solicitor-General, Victoria.
BLACKBURN, Elizabeth

Born 1948

Elizabeth Blackburn describes her journey of discovery as starting from basic biological research on the nature of telomeres. Telomeres cap the end of chromosomes and have a very…
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KNIGHT, Jill

Born 1946

Jill is the owner of a motor craft cutter named Cooee. She has sailed solo around the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Jill wrote for sailing magazines to support the circumnavigation of the…
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PYPER, Alison M.

Also known as: née Mitchell

1967 - Nurse at Alice Springs Hospital for 17 years. 1997-2004 - Worked in two major Saudi Arabian hospitals. Following was one year in Kuwait, 20 months in United Arab Emirates, and 2…
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.
KIBBLE, Nita Bernice

Born 8/6/1879, Died 4/2/1962

1919-43 — first woman librarian at the State Library of New South Wales. Miss Kibble set up the Library's first research department in 1918. She was appointed the Library's…
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RALSTON, Mary Carlisle

Born 10/11/1900, Died 1/09/1990

Married World War I veteran in Scotland then sailed to Australia to take up soldier settlement block at Urangeline, near Bulgandra, New South Wales. Was first woman on the settlement…
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ALLEN, Lynn

Lynn worked for twelve years as the State Librarian and CEO of the Western Australian state library (from 1989-2001). Over a period of 107 years, Professor Allen was only the fourth…
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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…
ROLAND, Betty

Born 22/07/1903, Died 12/02/1996

Also known as: née Mary Isabel Maclean/McLean, Betty M. Davies, Mary Isabel Davies

Wrote her first play The Touch of Silk in 1928. Also known for her four volume autobiography. In 1951 she legally changed her name to Betty Roland.
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

MURRAY-PRIOR, Nora Clarina

Born 3/12/1846, Died 1935

Also known as: née Barton

One of the 'hidden' pioneer women of the colonial era, who nurtured her network of relatives through letters. In strikingly direct and fluent prose, interspersed with acerbic…
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SCHILLING, Joanne

2007 - First female Governor in Northern Territory Rotary Club.
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SMITH, Wilhelmina

Born 1886, Died 24/06/1975

Also known as: Bill, Girlie, William

“Bill” Smith was Australia's first woman jockey.
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

WOLFF, Erica Charlotte

Born 1916

1948 - First woman in Australia to gain a Ph.D., Melbourne University, Arts. In 1938 she migrated to Australia and became a citizen in 1944.1944 - Received Bachelor of Arts with…
BAILEY, Karyn

Born 28/07/1986

2005 - First Northern Territory player in over a decade to be in an Australian 21 and under squad. Also won a scholarship to Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. 2007 - won the…
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JORDAN, Deirdre Francis

Born 18/9/1926

Also known as: Sister Deirdre, Sister Jordan, Sister Mary Campion

First woman in Australia to complete a Masters in Education, University of Adelaide.
1969 - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to education.
1989 - First…
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MITCHELL-CARMICHAEL, Heather Mary

Born 25/09/1917, Died 12/11/1999

Also known as: née Hutchieson

1985 - First woman president of Victorian Farmers Federation, and, with Joan Kirner, started the original Landcare Program. 1979 - She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the…
KIDMAN, Nicole Mary

Born 20/6/1967

Acclaimed Australian actress, winner of an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in the film The Hours (2002). In 2003, Kidman received a Star on the…
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 -…
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SHARP, Claudine

First Australian woman awarded Certificate of Marine Engineering Class I.
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…
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WOOTTON, Grace Smith

One of South Australia's first women “Surfies.” The State's first women surfies surfaced in 1915.
SAVAGE, Lillian Rose

Died 17/10/2012

1965 - Arrived with husband Bob and six children at Suplejack Downs (in Tanami Desert) in virgin country and made a working station (15,000 sq. miles).
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SWEENEY, Veronica Geoghegan

Born 1949

Great great granddaughter of Irish convicts.Author of historical sagas set in Ireland and Australia, such as The Emancipist and South Lies The Valley. In 1989 her second novel made…
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MAY, Sandra
READY, Mary

Born 1834, Died 06/04/1902

Also known as: née Hayes

First white woman in Mackay area of Queensland. Pioneer of the Mackay area, Queensland. Wife of bullocky James READY.
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…
WEBER, Ivy Lavinia

Born 7/6/1892, Died 6/3/1976

Also known as: née Filshie

1937 - President, League of Women Electors.
1937 - Candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of Nunawading, State election and became the second woman to be elected to the Victorian…
REIBEY, Mary

Born 12/05/1777, Died 30/05/1855

Also known as: née Haydock, Molly, James Burrow, Mary Raby, Mary Raiby

1811 - First known successful Australian business woman. Mary REIBEY's image is displayed on the Australian $20 note. She was a former convict.
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

LYLE, Nancy

1930s - First woman to fly to Tasmania. Only woman in Australia to fly for one of the Armed Forces. She held license No. 343 and frequently flew her Gipsy Moth interstate.Author of…
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SCHWARZ, Anna Wilhelmine Charlotte Dorothea

Also known as: née Schultz (Schultz, Schultze), Wilhelmine

The first white women to settle in Central Australia were Dorothea Queckenstedt and Wilhelmine Schulze from Germany, the wives of missionaries Kempe and Schwarz. They arrived at…
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SANDERCOCK, Mary

1970s - First female Property Valuer in South Australia.
MEEUWISSEN, Susan Elizabeth

Born 15/4/1962, Died 18/07/2000

Also known as: Sue

First person in the world to obtain a ruling of Unlawful Discrimination by reason of Disability (Asthma) for exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
SPENCER, Mary Stuart

Born 15/05/1871, Died 19/04/1940

Also known as: née Huntly, Eleanor Huntly, Mary Stuart Cosens, Senora Spencer

1906 - First woman projectionist 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

TOVELL, Ada Isabel J.

Born 1865, Died 19/08/1932

Also known as: née Fenton

First woman to take the degree of M.A.C.D. at the Australian College of Dentistry at Melbourne Dental Hospital.
1900 - M.A.C.D.
1903 - L.D.S.
LAWSON, Louisa

Born 17/2/1848, Died 12/8/1920

Also known as: née Albury. Louisa also wrote under the pseudonyms “Archie Lawson”, “Dora Falconer” and “Mrs Appleby”.

Louisa Lawson was the first to found a school at the New South Wales gold digging fields. In 1887, Louisa Lawson bought the ailing newspaper, Republican, which she and her son Henry…
HOLMAN, Mary Alice

Born 18/07/1893, Died 20/03/1939

Also known as: May

Australia's first female Labor Parliamentarian (Western Australia) who served more than ten 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

WENDLER, Johanna

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…
TENNANT, Kylie

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 Book…
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TREFRY, Christine

Born 10/05/1955

First Northern Territory woman Gold Medal Pistol Shooter. 1994 - Gold Medalist, Victoria Commonwealth Games.
1998 - Gold Medalist, Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
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

THORNE, Beatrice Anna

Born 23/01/1904

Pioneer of the Western Australian 'Group Settlement Scheme'. They pioneered a bush block in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, i.e., created a dairy farm from…
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TESSMAN, Pippa

Born 1961

2006 - Winner Northern Territory Westpac Business Owner award.
2009 - Selected to represent the Northern Territory on the inaugural Physiotherapy Board of Australia. Physiotherapist…
ROLTON, Karen Louise

Born 21/11/1974

2000 - First woman to play Men's Grade cricket in South Australia. Vice Captain Australian women's One Day Cricket team which won the World Cup in India in 1997.early 2018 -…
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LANG, Nell Margaret

Born 22/4/1913, Died 31/3/2002

Also known as: née Barrow

One of the first nurses to be admitted to the Navy, during World War II. 1944-1945 - Navy nurse - Served in Milne Bay, New Guinea.
STOTT DESPOJA, Natasha Jessica

Born 9/09/1969

Also known as: née Stott Despoja, Nat

2001 - Senator Australian Democrat Party. Youngest woman parliamentarian and youngest party leader in Australian history.
MCINTYRE, Margaret Edgeworth

Born 28/11/1886, Died 2/09/1948

Also known as: née David

First woman to enter Tasmanian State Government. 1 January 1948 - Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) for services to education.
OWEN, Gail

1991 - First woman to be appointed President of Law Institute, Victoria.