Edith Cowan in the 1920s

Edith Dircksey Cowan (née Brown), MBE (August 2, 1861–June 9, 1932) was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected as a representative in an Australian parliament. Image File history File linksMetadata Edith_Cowan. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Edith_Cowan. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 160th day of the year (161st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ...

Edith Brown was born and raised in Glengarry Station near Geraldton, Western Australia on August 2, 1861. The second daughter of Kenneth Brown and Mary Eliza Dircksey née Wittenoom, she was born into an influential and respected family that included her grandfathers Thomas Brown and John Burdett Wittenoom, and an uncle, Maitland Brown. When she was seven years old her mother died in childbirth, and her father sent her to a Perth boarding school run by the Cowan sisters, whose brother James she would later marry. Her father remarried, but the marriage was unhappy and he began to drink heavily. When Edith was fifteen, he shot and killed his second wife, and was subsequently hanged for the crime. Location of Geraldton, Western Australia Geraldton ( ) is a city and port in Western Australia located 424 km north of Perth. ... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2005-06)  - Product ($m)  $107,910 (4th)  - Product per capita  $53,134/person... is the 214th day of the year (215th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1861 (MDCCCLXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Kenneth Brown (1837–10 June 1876) was an explorer and pastoralist in Western Australia. ... Thomas Brown (1803–5 July 1863) was an early settler in colonial Western Australia, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. ... Maitland Brown (17 July 1843–8 May 1905) was an explorer, politician and pastoralist in colonial Western Australia. ... Location of Perth within Australia This article is about the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. ... There have been a number of public figures named James Cowan, including: Jim Cowan, a Canadian Senator from Nova Scotia James Cowan, a Manitoba politician from the 20th century James Cowan, a Manitoba politician from the 19th century This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that...

After her father's death, Edith Brown left her boarding school and moved to Guildford, probably to live with her grandmother. There, she attended the school of Canon Sweeting, a former headmaster of Bishop Hale's School who had taught a number of prominent men including John Forrest and Septimus Burt. According to her biographer, Sweeting's tuition left Brown with "a life-long conviction of the value of education, and an interest in books and reading". Guildford, Western Australia Guildford was established in 1829 on the Swan River, being sited near a permiment fresh water supply. ... Hale School, informally known as Hale, is an Independent school located in Wembley Downs, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. ... John Forrest, 1898 John Forrest, 1st Baron Forrest of Bunbury GCMG PC (22 August 1847–2 September 1918) was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australias first federal parliament. ...

At the age of seventeen she married James Cowan, a career public servant who had held numerous positions and was at that time Registrar and Master of the Supreme Court. They lived in Malcolm Street, West Perth for most of their lives, but are also well known for having one of the first houses in Cottesloe, where they lived from 1896 to 1912. West Perth is a suburb 600 metres west of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. ... Cottesloe Beach is a premium metropolitan beach in Perth, Western Australia. ...

Cowan became concerned with social issues and injustices in the legal system, especially with respect to women and children. In 1894 she helped found the Karrakatta Club, a group where women "educated themselves for the kind of life they believed they ought to be able to take". In time she became the club's president. The Karrakatta Club became involved in the campaign for women's suffrage, successfully gaining the vote for women in 1899. The Karrakatta Club reading rooms in the 1920s The Karrakatta Club is a womens club in Perth, Western Australia. ...

After the turn of the century Cowan turned her eye to welfare issues. She was particularly concerned with women's health and the welfare of disadvantaged groups, such as disadvantaged children and prostitutes. She became extraordinarily active in women's organisations and welfare organisations, serving on numerous committees. The building of Perth's King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in 1916 was largely a result of her efforts. She helped form the Women's Service Guilds in 1909 and was a co-founder of the Western Australia's National Council of Women, serving as president from 1913 to 1921 and vice-president until her death. King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women (KEMH) is located at 374 Bagot Road, Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... National Council of Women (NCWA) is an Australian organization founded in 1931. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Cowan believed that children should not be tried as adults and, accordingly, founded the Children's Protection Society. The society had a major role in the subsequent introduction of children's courts. In 1915 she was appointed to the bench of the new court and continued on in this position for eighteen years. In 1920 Cowan became one of the first female Justices of the Peace. A justice of the peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ...

During World War I Cowan collected food and clothing for soldiers at the front and coordinated efforts to care for returned soldiers. She became chairperson of the Red Cross Appeal Committee and was rewarded when, in 1920, she was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander...

In 1920 Western Australia passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament. At the age of 59 Cowan stood as the Nationalist candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of West Perth because she felt that domestic and social issues were not being given enough attention. She won a surprise victory, ironically defeating the Attorney General, Thomas Draper, who had introduced the legislation that enabled her to stand. She championed women's rights in parliament, pushing through legislation which allowed women to be involved in the legal profession. She succeeded in placing mothers in an equal position with fathers when their children died without having made a will, and was one of the first to promote sex education in schools. However, she lost her seat at the 1924 election and failed to regain it in 1927. The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party formed in 1917 from a merger of pro-conscription members of the Labor Party (who had been operating under the banner National Labor after their earlier split with the Labor party) with the Commonwealth Liberal Party. ... The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. ... The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australias system of law and justice. ...

In her final years she was an Australian delegate to the 1925 International Conference of Women held in the United States. She helped to found the Royal Western Australian Historical Society in 1926 and assisted in the planning of Western Australia's 1929 Centenary celebrations. Though she remained involved in social issues, illness forced her to withdraw somewhat from public life in later years. Cowan died in 1932, at the age of 71, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. Royal Western Australian Historical Society For many decades the main association for West Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia. ... Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. ...

Cultural references

The Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial, formerly known as the Edith Cowan Memorial Clock

Edith Cowan's portrait appears on the back of Australia's fifty dollar note.

Two years after her death, the Edith Cowan Memorial Clock was unveiled at the entrance to Perth's Kings Park. Believed to be the first ever 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" (Heritage Council of Western Australia, 2000). Opponents of the monument claimed that monuments were inherently masculine and therefore not an appropriate form of memorial to a woman, and that Cowan was not important enough to merit a monument in such a prominent location. Image File history File links Australian_$50_note_polymer_back. ... Image File history File links Australian_$50_note_polymer_back. ... Lemon-scented gums along Fraser Avenue, Kings Park Kings Park (, ) is a natural bushland park located in Perth, Western Australia. ...

Cowan's portrait was featured on an Australian postage stamp in 1975, as part of the six-part "Australian Women" series. During the WAY 1979 sesquicentennial celebrations, a plaque was laid in St Georges Terrace in her honour. In 1984 the federal Division of Cowan was created and named after her, and in January 1991 the Western Australian College of Advanced Education was re-named Edith Cowan University. Her portrait appears on the Australian fifty dollar note, a polymer banknote that was first issued in October 1995. In 1996 a plaque honouring her was placed in St George's Cathedral. There are references to her in a public art installation in Kings Park that was unveiled in November 1999 to commemorate the centenary of women's suffrage, and in a tapestry that was hung in King Edward Memorial Hospital in 2000 to honour women involved in the hospital. WAY 1979, also referred to as WAY 79 and WAY 79, was the official 1979 sesquicentennial celebration of the white settlement of Western Australia in 1829. ... The Division of Cowan is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. ... Edith Cowan University (ECU) is located in Perth, Western Australia, (). It is named after Edith Dircksey Cowan, who was the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament. ... The front of the current fifty dollar note. ... The first Guardian polymer banknote in circulation. ... The term womens suffrage refers to an economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage — the right to vote — to women. ...

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Edith Cowan

• Black, David and Bolton, Geoffrey (2001). Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Volume One, 1870–1930, Revised Edition, Parliament House: Parliament of Western Australia. ISBN 0730738140. 
• Black, David and Phillips, Harry (2000). Making a Difference: Women in the Western Australian Parliament 1921–1999. ISBN 0-7307-4464-7. 
• Cowan, Peter (1978). A unique position: a biography of Edith Dircksey Cowan 1861–1932. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 0-85564-135-5. 
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Cowan, Edith". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. 
• Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial (PDF). Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Documentation. Heritage Council of Western Australia (20 December 2000). Retrieved on 2006-05-24.