When was edith cowan born

Cowan was an initiator of the Women's Service Guild in and was vice-president to when she resigned. Amongst other work, the guild undertook the fund-raising, public meetings and government lobbying, in which she was prominent, which led finally to the opening of the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in She was secretary of the new hospital's advisory board.

In she was prominent in the creation of the Western Australian National Council of Women; she was its president in and vice-president until her death. She was a foundation member of Co-Freemasonry in her State in , and the first female member of the Anglican Social Questions Committee from and a co-opted member of synod from Up to the many women's organizations co-operated confidently and harmoniously, with the same people prominent in several of them, like Cowan, Lady James, Jane 'Jean' Beadle, and Bessie Rischbieth and Roberta Jull.

After a bitter controversy that year over amendments to the Health Act concerning venereal disease, the movement split: the National Council of Women and a group around Cowan, who supported the clauses recommending compulsory notification; and a more radical group around Rischbieth and the Women's Service Guild.

The rift between these two women was never healed. Cowan went overseas in and to Britain and Europe, and in to the United States of America as an Australian delegate to the sixth convention of the International Council. During World War I, already heavily engaged in social welfare, she took on a wide range of war work for which she was appointed O.

Immediately after the war women's organizations renewed their efforts for civic rights, as part of 'the full democratic re-generation of the world', and in legislation ended the legal bar to women entering parliament. In the elections Cowan was one of five women candidates.

Draper , the sitting Nationalist attorney-general in Sir James Mitchell 's government. The electorate had a majority of women on the roll, but was solidly wealthy with a few potential Labor voters. She campaigned on her community service record, the need for law and order, and for women in parliament 'to nag a little' on social issues. This website is best viewed with JavaScript enabled, interactive content that requires JavaScript will not be available.

Edith Cowan's schooling gave her a lifelong conviction of the value of education. She served several terms on the North Fremantle Education Board. She advocated for state schooling and for the inclusion of sex education in the curriculum. She was also a dedicated campaigner for women's rights and for the protection of children. In more recent times, a federal electorate and a university have been named after her.

When she was seven, her mother died in childbirth. In , Cowan was one of the founders of the Karrakatta Club, the first women's social club in Australia. She became prominent in the women's suffrage movement, which saw women in Western Australia granted the right to vote in Cowan was also a leading advocate for public education and the rights of children particularly those born to single mothers.

She was one of the first women to serve on a local board of education , and in helped to found the Children's Protection Society, whose lobbying resulted in the creation of the Children's Court the following year. Cowan was a co-founder of the Women's Service Guild in , and in helped establish a state branch of the National Council of Women.

Cowan was a key figure in the creation of the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, and became a member of its advisory board when it opened in She was made a magistrate in and a justice of the peace in In , Cowan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia as a member of the Nationalist Party , becoming Australia's first female parliamentarian.

She was defeated after just a single term, but maintained a high profile during her tenure and managed to secure the passage of several of her private member's bills. Believed to be the first civic monument to an Australian woman, it was built in the face of persistent opposition which has been characterised as "representative of a gender bias operating at the time".

Her portrait was featured on an Australian postage stamp in , as part of a six-part "Australian Women" series.