Edith Dircksey Cowan

Edith Dircksey Cowan was a Western Australian social worker, feminist, and politician who lived during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is most well-known as the first woman elected to the Australian parliament, and for her commitment to improving the social state of women and children in Western Australia. Perhaps the most famous Australian woman during the early years of the twentieth century, Cowan was instrumental in the campaign for women’s suffrage in Western Australia—gained in 1899. Cowan was also very instrumental in opening several nurseries and hospitals in the region and expanding the legal rights of working and non-working mothers. Because of her political and community service, the women’s movement in Western Australia became a model for feminist movements across the world.

Early Life

Edith Dircksey Brown was born on August 2, 1861, on the Glengarry homestead near the town of Geraldton in Western Australia. Her parents were Kenneth Brown, a farmer and gamekeeper, and Mary Eliza Dircksey Wittenoom, a schoolteacher. Her mother died during childbirth in 1868, when Edith was seven years old. Her father remarried, but the marriage was an unhappy one. Soon after, Edith enrolled in a boarding school in Perth, Australia, that was run by the Cowan sisters. After she matriculated, she finished her education under a private tutor.

In 1876, Kenneth Brown was hanged for the murder of his second wife. This traumatic event in Cowan’s young life affected her deeply and prepared her for a life dedicated to social reform and women’s rights, particularly in the area of improving the social welfare of women and children. On November 12, 1879, at the age of seventeen, Edith Dircksey Cowan married James Cowan, the brother of her two former headmistresses. Between the years of 1880 and 1891, James and Edith had four daughters and a son.

At the time of the wedding, James Cowan was a registrar and master of the Supreme Court. Because of her husband’s career, Edith Cowan was exposed to a number of social issues during the early years of her marriage. Cowan became even more interested in social reform and inspired to change the world through politics. By the time James was appointed to the role of magistrate of the Perth police force in 1890, guaranteeing the couple social and economic security, Edith Cowan was well-educated on the areas that needed improvement, and how she wanted to target them.

Public Service

Edith Dircksey Cowan began her work in public service during the 1890s by volunteering with a variety of organizations. She began working for the Ministering Children’s League in 1891, and became first secretary of the Karrakatta Club in 1894, the first women’s club in Australia. The club included the most influential women of Perth, who gathered to speak and share ideas for social reform and the betterment of women. Cowan rapidly advanced to vice president, and subsequently president, of this influential organization.

Firmly believing that education was the key to success, Cowan focused on improving the social welfare and educational opportunities of Australian women. She spent several terms on the North Fremantle Board of Education, and perpetually fundraised to gather money for college scholarships for aspiring scholars.

Cowan’s commitment to improving the rights and welfare of women and children remained unaltered, and in 1894, Cowan founded the House of Mercy for unmarried mothers, also known as the Alexandra House for Women. She also became a foundation member of the Children’s Protection Society in 1906. This society was responsible for the passing of the State Children Act in 1907, which set up a Children’s Court to defend the social and human rights of children. Cowan opened her first day nursery for working mothers in 1909, and served as the vice president of the Children’s Protection Society from 1922 until 1932. During her term, she established several more nurseries for the children of employed mothers.

An advocate of women’s political power, Cowan was an initiator of the Women’s Service Guild in 1909. The guild was responsible for opening the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in 1916. Cowan served as the secretary of the new hospital’s advisory board for many years. With the Women’s Service Guild as her vehicle, Cowan held public meetings and fundraisers, and lobbied the government for social change. She remained the vice president of the guild until her resignation in 1917.

Additionally, Cowan was instrumental in aiding in the creation of the Western Australian National Council of Women in 1911, an umbrella organization that oversaw independent women’s movements. She was the president of the council from 1913 until 1921, and vice president until her death. In 1912, she was appointed a member of the bench of the Children’s Court, a seat she held for eighteen years.

In 1915, the various Australian women’s organizations experienced a divisive split over the issue of several amendments to the Health Act concerning venereal disease. Cowan’s group, containing the National Council of Women of Australia (NCWA), supported an amendment that made the notification of the existence of cases of venereal disease a legal requirement. The other side, containing the Women’s Service Guild, did not support the amendment.

In 1916, Cowan became the first female member of the Anglican Social Questions Committee. Four years later, in 1920, she became a justice of the peace. Throughout World War I (1914-1918), Cowan was deeply involved in volunteer work to support the war effort, most specifically with the Red Cross. She was appointed the honor of Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1920.

Political Life

In 1902, a new law granted Australian women the right to vote in federal elections and run for seats in Parliament; while these freedoms were primarily granted only to women of European descent, they marked a major expansion of political opportunities for women. Edith Dircksey Cowan was one of five female candidates in the first election where women were allowed to run for a seat in the Australian Parliament. In the 1921 parliamentary elections for Western Australia, five women ran for seats, including Cowan. Campaigning under the Nationalist group for the legislative assembly seat of West Perth, Cowan ran on a platform of community service, the need for law and order, and social issues. She defeated the incumbent attorney general and became the first female member of the Australian Parliament in 1920. She won the parliamentary seat of West Perth at the age of sixty.

While in parliament, Cowan lobbied in favor of migrant welfare, the creation of infant health centers, women’s rights and unions, and sex education in state schools. She was responsible for the passing of the Women’s Legal Status Bill, which became the Women’s Legal Status Act in 1923, and allowed for women to enter the legal profession for the first time. She was also responsible for amending the Administration Act to give equal inheritance rights to mothers whose children died. She amended the Guidance of Infants Act of 1922 to help women apply for financial aid when left by their husbands, and a right to a share of their husbands’ income.

Despite her efforts to remain in parliament, Cowan lost her seat in 1924. She failed to regain it when she competed in the elections of 1927.

Legacy

Edith Dircksey Cowan died on June 9, 1932. She was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Australia. A pioneer and successful advocate of women’s rights, Cowan was instrumental in the Australian social reforms of the twentieth century. Her efforts to improve the legal and social standing of women in Australia made the Western Australian feminist movement one of the most successful in history.

In 1934, on the anniversary of her death, a memorial in the shape of a clock tower was erected at the gates of King’s Park to honor her memory. Her portrait was also hung in the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and a federal electorate and a university were named after her. Her original home stands on the campus of this Edith Cowan University in Perth, and in 1995, Cowan’s image appeared on the Australian fifty-dollar bill in commemoration.