40 Facts About Edith Cowan

Edith Dircksey Cowan was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children.

Edith Cowan is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament.

Edith Cowan was born at Glengarry station near Geraldton, Western Australia.

Edith Cowan was the granddaughter of two of the colony's early settlers, Thomas Brown and John Wittenoom.

Edith Cowan's mother died when she was seven, and she was sent to boarding school in Perth.

Edith Cowan subsequently lived with her grandmother in Guildford, Western Australia until her marriage at the age of 18.

In 1894, Edith Cowan was one of the founders of the Karrakatta Club, the first women's social club in Australia.

Edith Cowan became prominent in the women's suffrage movement, which saw women in Western Australia granted the right to vote in 1899.

Edith Cowan was a leading advocate for public education and the rights of children.

Edith Cowan was one of the first women to serve on a local board of education, and in 1906 helped to found the Children's Protection Society, whose lobbying resulted in the creation of the Children's Court the following year.

Edith Cowan was a co-founder of the Women's Service Guild in 1909, and in 1911 helped establish a state branch of the National Council of Women.

Edith 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 1916.

Edith Cowan was made a justice of the Children's Court in 1915 and a justice of the peace in 1920.

In 1921, Edith Cowan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia as a member of the Nationalist Party, becoming Australia's first female parliamentarian.

Edith Cowan 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.

Edith Cowan was born on 2 August 1861 at Glengarry, a sheep station near Geraldton, Western Australia.

Edith Cowan was the second child of Kenneth Brown, pastoralist and son of early York settlers Thomas and Eliza Brown, and his first wife Mary Eliza Dircksey Wittenoom, a teacher and the daughter of the colonial chaplain, Wittenoom.

Edith Cowan's mother died in childbirth in 1868 when Edith Cowan was only seven.

Edith Cowan went to a Perth boarding school run by the Misses Cowan, sisters of her future husband.

Edith Cowan's adolescence was shattered in 1876 by the ordeal of her father's trials and hanging for the murder, that year, of his second wife.

Edith Cowan murdered his second wife by shooting her when they were packing.

Edith Cowan was a solitary person, committed nevertheless to social reforms which enhanced women's dignity and responsibility and which secured proper care for mothers and children.

Edith Cowan became involved with social issues and injustices in the legal system, especially with respect to women and children.

Edith Cowan was particularly concerned with women's health and the welfare of disadvantaged groups, such as disadvantaged children and prostitutes.

Edith Cowan became extraordinarily active in women's organisations and welfare organisations, serving on numerous committees.

Edith Cowan 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.

Edith Cowan was a Western Australian delegate to the national assembly for 19 years.

Edith Cowan believed that children should not be tried as adults and, accordingly, founded the Children's Protection Society.

Edith Cowan became chairperson of the Red Cross Appeal Committee and was rewarded when, in 1920, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Edith Cowan helped to found the Royal Western Australian Historical Society in 1926 and assisted in the planning of Western Australia's 1929 Centenary celebrations.

Beside being a Member of Parliament, Edith Cowan held positions on many boards in Western Australia, in 1929 during the Centenary The West Australian published a list of these;.

Edith Cowan was the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament.

Edith Cowan campaigned for women's rights in parliament, pushing through legislation which allowed women to be involved in the legal profession.

At the age of 18, on 12 November 1879, Edith married James Cowan, then Registrar of the Supreme Court.

Edith Cowan was one of the first women elected to the Anglican Synod in 1916.

Edith Cowan's portrait featured on an Australian postage stamp in 1975, as part of a six-part "Australian Women" series.

Edith Cowan's portrait appears on the Australian fifty dollar note, a polymer banknote that was first issued in October 1995.

In 2019 the release of the latest $50 note caused a sensation when it was discovered that the word 'responsibility' in Edith Cowan's speech was spelt incorrectly, missing the last 'i'.

In 1991, Edith Cowan University purchased the house in which Edith Cowan, her husband and family had resided at 71 Malcolm Street.

Edith Cowan was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.