Edith Cowan

Edith Cowan was born on 2 August 1861 at Glanville Hall, near Geraldton, Western Australia. She was the second child of Kenneth Brown, a pastoralist and politician, and Mary Eliza Dircksey Wittenoom, a teacher. She had a traumatic childhood as her mother died in childbirth when she was seven and her father was hanged for murdering his second wife when she was 15. She was raised by her grandmother and educated at a boarding school in Perth. She married James Cowan, a lawyer and magistrate, in 1879 and they had five children. She became involved in various social causes, especially those related to women and children. She helped to establish the Children's Protection Society in 1906, which later became the Children's Court. She also founded the Women's Service Guilds in 1909, which advocated for women's rights, social justice and peace. She was a prominent member of the National Council of Women, which campaigned for women's suffrage, education, health and welfare. She also supported various charitable organisations, such as the Red Cross, the District Nurses Association and the Kindergarten Union. She was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 1915 and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1920. In 1921, she became the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament, winning the seat of West Perth for the Nationalist Party. She faced considerable opposition and ridicule from her male colleagues, but she proved to be an effective and independent-minded parliamentarian. She introduced bills on women's legal status, migrant welfare, infant health centres and sex education. She also supported bills on workers' compensation, pensions and electoral reform. She lost her seat in 1924 but remained active in public life until her death. She died of heart disease on 9 June 1932 in Perth, Western Australia. She was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth. She was widely regarded as a pioneer of women's rights and social reform in Australia¹.