HerStory Archive

Valda Mae D'ANGRI

Also known as: Val, the flag lady

Hand made a repli­ca of the Eure­ka Flag that was orig­i­nal­ly made by her great great grand­moth­er (Anas­ta­sia With­ers) and destroyed dur­ing the upris­ing. Repli­ca used at 125^th Anniversary…

Constance Elizabeth D'ARCY

Born 1 June 1879, Died 25 April 1950

1914 — Appoint­ed to Uni­ver­si­ty of Syd­ney’s Senate.
1925 – 1939 — Hon­orary sur­geon at the Roy­al Hos­pi­tal for Women, Sydney.
3 June 1935 — Appoint­ed as Dame of the Order of the…

Lois D'ARCY

1973 — Aus­trali­a’s first Civ­il Mar­riage Celebrant

June D'ROZARIO

North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry’s Labor Par­lia­men­tar­i­an. One of the few women to put up for elec­tion to the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Parliament

Jennifer DAETZ

Also known as: Jenny

1997 — First female to com­mand a com­mis­sion­er R.A.N. Ves­sel ​‘HMAS Shepperton’.

She joined the Roy­al Aus­tralian Navy in 1986, and has attained the rank of Captain.…

Elizabeth DALMAN

Born 1934

Eliz­a­beth Cameron Dal­man was the pio­neer of con­tem­po­rary dance in Aus­tralia. She was the founder of the Aus­tralian Dance The­atre, this country’s first pro­fes­sion­al mod­ern dance…

Mrs DANE

First white woman at Stawell, Victoria.

The Dane Memo­r­i­al Seat, Stawell, Vic­to­ria, was erect­ed in mem­o­ry of her husband.

Helen DANN

At 17, first woman in Vic­to­ria to get semi-trail­er licence.
2015 — Induct­ed into Shell Rim­u­la Hall of Fame at Nation­al Road Trans­port Hall of Fame.

Bought her own TK Bedford…

Dur-e DARA

Anne Isabella DARCY FOWLER

Born 24 July 1911, Died 13 June 2003

Also known as: née Darcy, Ann, Annie

Annie was one of the first female drovers, and it is believed that she and her broth­ers pho­tos adorn the walls at Daly Waters Pub as charar­c­ters of the Territory.

Annie was part of a…

Zara DARE

Born 28 May 1886, Died 1 October 1965

Also known as: née Dare, Zara Wilson

1931 — First of two women police offi­cers in Queensland.

She spent 1917 – 1921, ca 1925 – 1930 as an offi­cer with the Sal­va­tion Army serv­ing in Chi­na. In 1930, she began working…

Vicki DARKEN

Born 1929, Died 3/05/2014

Also known as: née Ormond

The first Miss North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry (Vic­ki Ormond); mar­ried (1942) to Con­sta­ble Bob Dark­en, their tent hon­ey­moon gave Hon­ey­moon Gap its name; a ​“pio­neer” who lived in rough…

Barbara Brinsley DARLING

Also known as: Rev Canon Barbara Darling

First woman asked to be their Vic­ar by an Angli­can Parish (Mel­bourne)
One of first Women Dea­cons elect­ed to House of Cler­gy and Gen­er­al Synod.
1986 — First Ordained woman on Diocesan…

Janet Patteson DARLING

Born 31 August 1913, Died December 2007

Also known as: née Gunther, Pat

Nurse. Pris­on­er of War in Suma­tra dur­ing World War II.
1941 – ​“Enlist­ed in the ²⁄₁₀ Aus­tralian Gen­er­al Hos­pi­tal and sent to what was then Malaya [now Malaysia] and lat­er joined the…

Emily Mary DARVALL

Born 1817, Died 1909

Pio­neer, Poet, Woman of the Bush and the Grand­moth­er of AB (Ban­jo) Paterson

Caroline Martha DAVID

Born 26/4/1856, Died 25/12/1951

Also known as: née Mallett, Cara, Lady, Caroline Edgeworth David, Caroline Mallett

Wife of Sir Edge­worth David, Pro­fes­sor of Geology.President of Wom­en’s Nation­al Move­ment for Social Reform.Spearheaded cam­paign for Hotels 6 o’clock clos­ing in New South…

Robyn DAVIDSON

Born 6 September 1950

A woman pio­neer in trav­el­ling alone with camels from Alice Springs, North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry across the deserts to the Indi­an Ocean. She wrote a book on her expe­ri­ences, Tracks.

Beatrice DAVIS

Aus­trali­a’s first full time prof book edi­tor, Angus & Robert­son 1937

Eileen Beryl DAVIS

Born 1887, Died 16 July 1978

Also known as: née Atkinson

1920 — The first woman in Vic­to­ria to be grant­ed a license to ride at reg­is­tered race meetings.

Pio­neer of the Birchip/​Wimmera dis­trict of Victoria.Trainer of race and…

Emilie DAVIS

Also known as: Babs

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

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.

Christine DAVY

Born 7 August 1934

1963 — Won Aus­tralian Women Pilots’ Asso­ci­a­tion (A.W.P.A.) Annu­al Reli­a­bil­i­ty Tri­al and the Nan­cy Bird Trophy.

1 Jan­u­ary 1970 — Award­ed Mem­ber of the Order of the British Empire…

Ruby Claudia Emily DAVY

Born 22 November 1883, Died 12 July 1949

Also known as: Dr Ruby Davy

1918 — Aus­trali­a’s first female Doc­tor of Music, she received her doc­tor­ate from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ade­laide in 1918 but was nev­er offered a per­ma­nent senior post at the University…

Joyce DAWS

Born 1925, Died 2007

Also known as: Dame Joyce Dawes

First woman Pres­i­dent of Vic­to­ri­an branch of Aus­tralian Med­ical Assoc

Tho­racic Surgeon

Beatrice DAY

Born 1865, Died 5 September 1933

1900 — Beat­rice Day is said to be the first woman in an Aus­tralian film, appear­ing in Aus­trali­a’s, and pos­si­bly the world’s, first film (albeit silent) the Salvation…

Nellie Josephine DE BRENNI

Born 27 April 1922, Died 20 March 2006

Pio­neer of Cen­tral Aus­tralia sta­tions and nursing.
1955 – 1985 — Career at the Alice Springs Hos­pi­tal as an enrolled nurse and the Child Health Unit, North­ern Territory.

Lillian Daphne DE LISSA

Born 25 October 1885, Died 16 October 1967

Also known as: née de Lissa, Lillian Daphne Turner-Thompson

1906 — Founder of South Aus­trali­a’s first kinder­garten in Franklin Street.

Margaret Augusta DE MESTRE

Born 16 November 1915, Died 19 February 1942

Also known as: Sister Margaret DeMestre

First Aus­tralian woman to lose her life in Aus­tralia while on active ser­vice. She was 26 years of age.

1942 — Nurs­ing sis­ter from Bellin­gen in New South Wales on hospital…

Fanny Elizabeth DE MOLE

Born 1 March 1835, Died 26 December 1866

1861 — First woman in South Aus­tralia to write and illus­trate a book on the flo­ra of South Aus­tralia, Wild Flow­ers of SA.

Rosemary Mina De PIERRES

Born 28/05/1926

Also known as: née Vincent

Rose­mary was a good friend of Robin Miller and often helped her with her vac­cine flights. She was the state pres­i­dent of the Aus­tralian Women Pilots Asso­ci­a­tion and then went on to be…

Anne DE SALIS

Irene Selina DEAN-WILLIAMS

Born 12/7/1903, Died 3/7/1946

Also known as: née Schmidt, Selina Irene Schmidt, Rene

1932 — Flew her Gip­sy Moth from Perth to Syd­ney via Ade­laide and Mel­bourne, and returned to Perth, becom­ing the first avi­a­trix to fly across Aus­tralia East to West. She set the…

Amanda DEAN

First female plumber’s apprentice/​graduate of Frankston, Vic­to­ria, Tech­ni­cal and Fur­ther Edu­ca­tion (TAFE).

First female plumber in Alice Springs, North­ern Territory.

Rosalie DEANE

First Aus­tralian woman to be record­ed in Wisden.

Sis­ters Nel­lie and Lily GRE­GO­RY cap­tained the team.

Di DEANS

2007 — Founder of the Alice Springs Hos­pi­tal Drovers.2009 — Named Cen­tralian of the Year.

Joan Mary DEANS

Born 10 February 1920, Died 29 December 2006

Also known as: née Learoyd

Joan was an Eng­lish nurse ​“in the Queen Alexan­dria Army Nurs­ing Ser­vice on loan from the Roy­al Navy, and worked in mil­i­tary hos­pi­tals at Bonegilla and oth­er mil­i­tary hos­pi­tals in” New…

Emma Emilie DECKERT

… women who make up the com­plete Euro­pean female pop­u­la­tion of the town of Stu­art and the Alice Springs Tele­graph Sta­tion in June 1901. Stu­art then con­sist­ed of one hotel, two…

Carol DEHN

Car­ol is a cap­tain for Qan­tas Link based in Mel­bourne. She has won many Aus­tralian Women Pilots Asso­ci­a­tion tro­phies. One of her most sat­is­fy­ing jobs has been fly­ing for the Air…

Jessica DEMPSEY

2000 — One of two first female research sci­en­tists to work at the South Pole in a Uni­ver­si­ty of New South Wales led expedition.

Edith Ellen DEMPSTER

Born 31 January 1884, Died 28 May 1967

Also known as: née McLellan, E. E.

Pio­neer on cat­tle sta­tions in South Aus­tralia and North­ern Territory.Top End pio­neers and South Aus­tralian pioneers.Pioneer pas­toral­ist on Vic­to­ria Riv­er Downs.

Marjory Florence DEMPSTER

Born 1915, Died 09 November 1985

Also known as: née Walker, Marj, Marjorie

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

Clara DENNIS

Born 7 March 1916, Died 4 June 1971

Also known as: née Dennis, Clare, Clara Golding

Clare Den­nis was the first Aus­tralian woman to com­pete in the Empire Games (1934, Lon­don) win­ning gold in the 200 yards breaststroke.
1931 — Won her first New South Wales and…

Sarah DENNIS

Born 24/12/1841, Died 9/8/1910

Also known as: née Marks

Pio­neer of Bendi­go area of Victoria.

Lorrae DESMOND

Born 2 October 1932

Also known as: née Beryl Hunt, Sheila Hunt, Beryl Gorshenin, Lorrae Gorshenin

1962 — First female Gold Logie award win­ner, for her music vari­ety show The Lor­rae Desmond Show.

1970 — Award­ed Mem­ber of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for ser­vices to the…

Anne Barbara DEVESON

Born 19/6/1930, Died 12/2016

Writer, broad­cast­er, doc­u­men­tary mak­er, film mak­er and advo­cate of social jus­tice. Wrote the sto­ry of her son’s life and death with schiz­o­phre­nia, Tell Me I’m Here, which won…

Caroline DEXTER

Born 6 January 1819, Died 19 August 1884

Also known as: née Harper, Caroline Lynch

Har­ri­et Clis­by and Car­o­line Dex­ter pub­lished just two edi­tions of the Inter­preter in 1861; said to be the first mag­a­zine pub­lished by women in Australia.

1858 — Wrote and…

Dianne DIANO

Also known as: née Gleeson

First police women attached to Alice Springs Police Station.

Kerry DIENELT

Born 25 February 1969

First North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry woman to skip­per a nation­al team — softball.
1998 — North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Sports­woman of the Year.

1988 – 1991 — Played for the Uni­ver­si­ty of California,…

Mary DILLON

In 1843, Mary Dil­lon, daugh­ter of a pub­li­can from Bathurst, New South Wales, was grant­ed a license to open her pub in Bris­bane, then a rather rough and ready fron­tier town. In her…

Collette DINNIGAN

First Aus­tralian to be invit­ed to show her clothes as part of the Paris Pret-A-Porter Collection.