Australian Women's Register

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Glencross, Eleanor (1876 - 1950)

Born
11 November 1876
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died
2 May 1950
Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Feminist, Political candidate and Women's rights activist
Alternative Names
  • Cameron, Eleanor (maiden name, 11 November 1876 - 2 May 1950)

Summary

Eleanor Glencross was the second woman to stand for the Victorian Parliament. She unsuccessfully contested the seat of Brighton in 1928 as an Independent Nationalist. She had previously stood for the Federal seat of Henty in 1922 and in 1943 the seat of Martin. A former general secretary, chief speaker and organizer of the Australian Women’s National League in 1920 Glencross became president of the Housewives’ Association of Victoria. In 1923 she became president of the Federated Housewives Association of Australia. During World War II she was prominent in patriotic activities as a member of the State advisory committee of the Commonwealth prices commissioner, the council of the Lord Mayor’s Patriotic and War Fund and of the executive of the Women’s Voluntary National Register.

Details

Events

1911 - 1912
General secretary, chief speaker and organizer of the Australian Women's National League
1912 - 1913
Worked for the People's Liberal Party
1913
Returned to Sydney
1913
Women's organizer for the Liberal Association of New South Wales
14 March 1917
Married grazier Andrew Glencross (d. 1930)
1918 - 1928
Executive member of the National Council of Women of Victoria
1920
President of the Housewives' Association of Victoria
1922
Encouraged the formation of the Victorian Women Citizens' Movement
1922
Stood as an Independent for the Federal seat of Henty
1923
President of the Federated Housewives' Association of Australia
1923
Served on the Victorian royal commission on the high cost of living
1927
One of the first female justices of the peace appointed in Victoria
1927 - 1928
President of the National Council of Women of Victoria
1928
Stood as an Independent for the Victorian seat of Brighton
1928
Presided at the only Melbourne Women's Citizens' Function to entertain the Duchess of York
1928
One of three women members of the Council of British Empire Exhibition, Melbourne
December 1928
Appointed to the Commonwealth Film Censorship Board
December 1928
Returned to Sydney
1931
Joined the staff of the National Association of New South Wales
1938
Salaried chairwoman of directors of the Housewives' Association of New South Wales
1943
Stood as an Independent for the Federal seat of Martin

Sources used to compile this entry: Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1944, 12 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp; Foley, Meredith, 'Glencross, Eleanor (1876 - 1950)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090026b.htm.

Related entries

Membership

Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Women’s Voluntary National Register, New South Wales, Records, ML MSS 2025; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia

  • National Council of Women of Victoria Minutes, 1904 - 1960, Mfm G 7541-7544; National Library of Australia. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Papers of Herbert and Ivy Brookes, 1869 - 1970, MS 1924; Papers of Herbert Brooks; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Private Hands (contact Australian Women's Archive Project)

  • National Council of Women of Victoria, 1902 - ; National Council of Women of Victoria (1902 - ); Private Hands (contact Australian Women's Archive Project). Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Online Resources

See also

  • Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1944, 12 edn, The Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp. Details
  • Fitzherbert, Margaret, Liberal women : Federation to 1949, Federation Press, Sydney, 2004, 305 pp. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double Time: Women in Victoria - 150 Years, Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood (Vic.), 1985, 476 pp. Details
  • Oldfield, Robert, The Early years of the Housewives Association of Victoria, 1915-1930, Monash University, 1989. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details
  • Smart, Judith, 'A Mission to the Home: The Housewives Association, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and Protestant Christianity, 1920-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 13 no. 28, October 1998, 1998, pp. 215-234. Details

Jane Carey and Anne Heywood

Created: 23 September 2003, Last modified: 22 April 2009

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0561b.htm