Women's Museum of Australia presents the
HerStory Archive
This is a collection of stories which tell of the achievements of over 1,500 pioneering women in various fields. We are proud that our HerStory Archive brings Australian women and their achievements to light, and we hope that you enjoy discovering these inspiring women.
This archive contains more information about some women than others. As a small, not-for-profit museum, our limited resources often prevent us from collecting as much information as we would like. The information we do have, however, brings Australian women and their achievements to light. If you have additional information on any woman who features in our Herstory Archive, please contribute it here.
HerStory Home
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Marie Henriette Dorothea KEMPE
Died 1891
Also known as: nee Queckenstedt, Dorothee
The first white women to settle in Central Australia were Dorothea Queckenstedt and Wilhelmine Schulze from Germany, the wives of missionaries Kempe and Schwarz. They arrived at…
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Del HAYMAN
1956 — Appointed first Australian Girl Guide International Commissioner.
1960 — Awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to Guiding.
Pioneer of… -
Mary Constance BEASLEY
Born 1937
Elected Acting Chairman of South Australia’s Public Service Board in 1983, this was the first time a woman had held such office in Australia. She was also South Australia’s…
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Cora Kate CHALMERS
Born 18 February 1885, Died 13 August 1958
Also known as: née Coventry
Pioneer of Central Australia, MacDonald Downs, sheep and cattle station.
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Helen BROWNLEE
Helen Brownlee was the first Australian woman to gain international status in canoeing when selected to judge slalom at the Munich Olympics (1972). She was first woman President of…
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Lucinda Mary TURNBULL
Born 30 March 1958
Also known as: née Hughes, Lucy
2003 — Became first woman Lord Mayor of Sydney.
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Rebecca MILLS
Died 23/08/1927
First woman on a Board of Directors (although NPWHF researchers have been unable to discover details). In 1926, Rebecca was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for…
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Nancy LYLE
1930s — First woman to fly to Tasmania. Only woman in Australia to fly for one of the Armed Forces.
She held license No. 343 and frequently flew her Gipsy Moth… -
Suzi HUTCHINGS
Born 25 March 1962
Also known as: Dr Susan Jane Hutchings, Dr Suzi Hutchings
1995 — Pioneer Arrente woman with PhD from Adelaide University.Co-ordinates and teaches in Indigenous Policy.
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Barbara Rosemary HARDY
Born 31 March 1927
Also known as: née Begg
1981 – 82 — First female board member of South Australian Board of Advice, AMP Society.
26 January 1987 — Appointed Officer of the Order of Australia, for service to conservation and the… -
Susannah Matilda WARD
Died 4/06/1862
Also known as: née Baldwin
1820 — Pioneer of early New South Wales.
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Louisa Ann MEREDITH
Born 20/07/1812, Died 21/10/1895
Also known as: née Twamley
1880 — First women in Australia to design a postage stamp. She sketched the platypus on a Tasmanian Duty Stamp. Two years later these stamps were authorised for postal use.…
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Sheila HEWITT
Born 28 October 1921, Died 14 April 2011
Also known as: née South
1980, Queens Birthday Honours — Awarded Order of Australia medal, community service.
Arrived in Alice Springs, 1950.Written on the back of the drawing: Former devoted member. -
Martha WEBSTER
Born 1839, Died 11 August 1915
Also known as: née Turner
1872 — First woman to become a Minister of a Protestant Church in Australia.
The ‘Women’s Voter’ wrote for her Obituary: In relation to women’s movement… -
Helen WILLIAMS
Born 1945
First woman to head a Commonwealth government department when she was appointed Secretary of the Deptartment of Education in 1985.
1979: Early in her public service career,… -
Margaret Rose PRESTON
Born 29/04/1875, Died 28/05/1963
Also known as: née McPherson, Rose McPherson
1920s — First white artist to be deeply influenced by Aboriginal art.
A Modernist artist, with her main work oil on canvas and her bold flower paintings. -
Miles FRANKLIN
Born 14/10/1879, Died 19/09/1954
Also known as: née Franklin, Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, Brent of Bin Bin, Mr and Mrs Ogniblat L'Artsau
Wrote under the name of Miles FRANKLIN; author of “My Brilliant Career” (1901).
1948 — Established Miles Franklin Award for Australian Literature, which she provided for in… -
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Kareena BALLARD
From 1996 – 1998, Kareena Ballard was the first female president of both the Real Estate Institute of WA and the Real Estate Institute of Australia. She was awarded the REIWA Kevin…
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Catherine Helen SPENCE
Born 31/10/1825, Died 3/4/1910
The first female member of a public board when appointed to the East Adelaide School Board of Advice in 1877, she was also the first woman in Australia to participate in an official…
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Jennifer DAETZ
Also known as: Jenny
1997 — First female to command a commissioner R.A.N. Vessel ‘HMAS Shepperton’.
She joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1986, and has attained the rank of Captain.… -
Lily Isabel Maude ADDISON
Born 1887, Died 1968
1906 — First woman to do technical work in architectural office in Queensland. Lily assisted in her father’s office from about 1906. In 1914 she passed Building Construction and…
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Margaret Sterling BAIN
Born 1923, Died 14/03/2018
Pioneer Missionary who was insightful and successful in cross cultural communication, and community development in Finke/Aputula. She was greatly respected and trusted by the…
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Mary David ALLCHIN
Born 17/5/1913
Pioneer of Central Australia. Arrived in Alice Springs in 1941, took her final vows with the Catholic Church in 1942 and helped establish Arltunga mission in 1942. Also worked on…
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Caroline Poolmann SLEE
Born 2 June 1861, Died 15 November 1916
Also known as: née Rebbeck, Nurse Slee
Pioneer nurse and midwife at Broken Hill, New South Wales.
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Mary Anna McMANUS
Born 7/2/1844, Died 22/7/1933
Also known as: née Spencer
First white child to live where Saint George is now situated. With her mother, they were the first white women to reside in Maranoa District, Roma Queensland.
Wrote Reminiscences of… -
Adelheid Elisabeth Johanne TAYLOR
Born 12/08/1922, Died 12/10/2011
Also known as: Heide, Mother Zonta
First migrant in South Australia to be fully recognised and registered as a medical practitioner.
1968 — Was appointed and the first female to hold the position of Director of… -
Robyn Wells MAY
Also known as: née Hammond
Began flying between Melbourne and Tasmania.Flew in Papua New Guinea — “Only exceptional pilots survive.” Now flies in South Australia.
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Michelle MILLER
2002 — LCDR (at the time) Michelle Miller was appointed the Commanding Officer of the patrol craft HMAS Dubbo.
Mid-2007 — Commander Michele Miller assumed command of the ANZAC class… -
Emma MILLER
Born 26 June 1839, Died 22/01/1917
Also known as: née Holmes, Grand Old Woman of Queensland Labour, Mother of the Australian Labor Party, Mother Miller
1890 — Founded a women’s union, advocating equal pay and votes for women.
The first woman and life member of the Brisbane Workers’ Political Organisation.
1894 – 1905 — Foundation… -
Pearl Ruth POWELL
Born 14/12/1909, Died 2004
Also known as: née Price, formerly Bird
Daughter of Fred and Isobelle PRICE.Author of By Packhorse and Buggie with daughter Eileen McRAE. Fred Price was Telegraph Master at Telegraph Station, Alice Springs (1916−24).
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Freida Ruth HEIGHWAY
Born 2 June 1907, Died 30 December 1963
Also known as: née Heighway, Dr Ruth Heighway, Freda Abbie
First Australian woman member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, she was admitted by examination in 1934, later becoming the first woman to graduate…
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Edith Ellen DEMPSTER
Born 31 January 1884, Died 28 May 1967
Also known as: née McLellan, E. E.
Pioneer on cattle stations in South Australia and Northern Territory.Top End pioneers and South Australian pioneers.Pioneer pastoralist on Victoria River Downs.
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Maria Antonia CICCONE
Born 1891, Died 1979
Also known as: née Cotela, Antonia
Maria Antonia Ciccone arrived from Serrata, Southern Italy in 1933 and came straight to Alice Springs to join her husband Patsy. He had been here seven years already, trying to get…
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Jill KER CONWAY
Born 9 October 1934, Died 06 June 2018
Also known as: Jill Ker Conway
1975 — First female President of Smith College (United States of America).
1975 — named as one of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year. As a writer, particularly known… -
Cynthia Mary TEAGUE
Born 22 May 1907, Died 08 March 2007
1965 — First woman to reach Second Division level in Federal Public Service
(Assistant Director-General of Federal Department of Works).
1930 — Won Grice Bronze Medal for… -
Aileen Carmel KILGARIFF
Born 26 October 1926
Also known as: née Canny
Aileen and husband Bern Kilgariff owned the poultry farm Stuartvale Farm in Alice Springs. Aileen was a trained chick sexer, where she worked distinguishing the sex of chicken and…
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Stella Annette JOHNSON
Born 14/2/1925
Also known as: nee Dunn
Despite her handicap, she was a community worker and taught handicraft on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia.
Community worker — Eyre Peninsula, South Australia -
Hilarie LINDSAY
Born 1922
Also known as: née Dyson
1966 & 1967 — Won The Grenfell Prose award.
1975 — Awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to literature.
1977 — Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
1988 -… -
Lucy OSBURN
Born 1 April 1836, Died 22 December 1891
She trained at the Nightingale Training School, St Thomas’ Hospital. One month into her training she was selected to lead a team of nurses to establish the Nightingale nursing…
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Eileen McRAE
Born 13/07/1932
Also known as: née Bird
Granddaughter of Fred and Isobelle PRICE. (Fred PRICE was Telegraph Master at Old Telegraph Station, Alice Springs, 1916 – 24.)Daughter of Pearl POWELL.Author of By Packhorse and Buggie…
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Agnes Mildred AVERY
Born 14 November 1880, Died 27 August 1944
Also known as: née Dunstan
Only Adelaide woman Chairman of Directors of Dunstan Ltd, Stonyfell Quarries.Only woman member in Australia of the British Institute of Psychoanalysis.
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Freda BRIGGS
Born 1 December 1930, Died 6 April 2016
Also known as: née Akeroyd
Educator, author, scholar.
Her appeal against mandatory retirement paved the way for older Australians to retain working positions after retirement age.
Received ANZAC Fellowship… -
Amy Gwendoline STARK
Born 3/04/1910, Died 28/11/1994
Also known as: née Stark, Gwen, Starkie, Gwen Caldwell
1941 — First service woman recruited by WAAAF in New South Wales. On 40th Anniversary of Anzac Day, she was the first woman honoured to give the Dawn Service Address in Sydney.
1968 -… -
Edith May LAVER
Also known as: née Parker
Edith May Parker married Jack Laver after World War I. They later took up the Stuart Arms Hotel licence, and with their son Robert (Bob), travelled on the train from South Australia…
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Enid HARLAND
Also known as: née Batchelor
Enid Harland has been a tireless worker for over twenty years, working with families of prisoners in Alice Springs and helping prisoners stay connected to their families. She…