HerStory

Florence Mary TAYLOR
Also known as: née Parsons
Born: 29 December 1879
Died: 13 February 1969
Special Achievements:Florence Taylor (née Parsons), the first woman in Australia to pursue a professional career in architecture, spent eight years in study and apprenticeship, but could not register to practice for another 13 years because the New South Wales Institute of Architects did not admit women.
Australia's first woman architect and engineer qualified in building construction, architecture and quantity surveying in 1907. She had been the only woman among 200 men when she enrolled in night classes at Sydney Technical College in 1899, and during her apprenticeship worked as "Chief Draughtsman" in a prestigious Sydney architectural office. In 1920 she became the first woman member of the New South Wales Institute of Architects.
1909 - First known woman in Australia to pilot a heavier-than-air vehicle (similar to a hang glider). Took off from Narrabeen Beach near Sydney.
1920s - First Female Architect and Town Planner in Australia.
1939 - Received Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
1961 - Received Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Florence Taylor (née Parsons), the first woman in Australia to pursue a professional career in architecture, spent eight years in study and apprenticeship, but could not register to practice for another 13 years because the NSW Institute of Architects did not admit women. Queensland was the first State to give membership to a woman --- albeit associate and not full --- ...
Resources
-
References
Australian Dictionary of Biography. "Taylor, Florence Mary (1879–1969)".
The Australian Women's Register. "Taylor, Florence Mary (1879 - 1969)".
Kerr, Joan (ed). (1995). Heritage: The national women's art book, 500 works by 500 Australian women artists from colonial times to 1955. Sydney: Arts Australia, pp. 227, 400, 401.
(date unknown). Book Releases: Florence Taylor's Hats. Australia Heritage, 80.
Florence Taylor’s hats. Retrieved from http://www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/units/PGVO/alumni/Bronwyn/Papers/Florence.html; accessed 2/09/04.
Hanna, Bronwyn. (1994, October). Florence Taylor’s hats. Architecture Bulletin, 4-5.
(2001, January 20). Florence Taylor. New Idea, 20.
Walton, Nancy Bird. (1990). My God! it's a woman. North Ryde, N.S.W.: Collins/Angus & Robertson, p. 26.
(2004, September). Florence Mary Taylor. Pioneer Women, 8-10.
Loder, Andrea Jane. (1980s). Florence Taylor – Architect, Engineer, Town Planner: ‘The Great Lady of Sydney Town’. Australia Heritage, 43-44.
Aviation/Architecture/Engineering. Taylor. p. 2811.
Willis, Julie and Hanna, Bronwyn. (2001). Women Architects in Australia 1900-1950. Red Hill, A.C.T.: Royal Australian Institute of Architects.