The Australian Women's Register

Ninette Dutton published a number of books on the Australian landscape and gardening which she often illustrated with her own botanical drawings. Ninette also studied art in both Europe and America, establishing herself as an enamellist and often holding exhibitions of her work.

Barbara Ross was a historian and a former staff member of the National Library of Australia (NLA). Prior to the NLA Barbara worked as a County Record Office archivist in England and as an archivist with the Commonwealth Archives Office in Canberra. For a time she also worked as a valuer under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme.

Lady Elizabeth Wilson, wife of Sir Keith Cameron Wilson, was very active in the Adelaide community and involved in many local organisations. She was divisional commandant of the South Australian division of the Red Cross during the Second World War and chairman of the branch from 1969 to 1972. In 1946 Elizabeth was approached to become a member of the board of governors of the Burnside War Memorial Hospital and she remained a member for the duration of her life.

For seven years Elizabeth was president of the Mothers’ and Babies’ Health Association (MBHA), in addition to being chairman of the Saint Peter’s College Mission and a patron of the Cornish Association of South Australia. Elizabeth was a member of the Pan-Pacific South East Asian Women’s Association for a number of decades, and at the time of her oral history interview with Amy McGrath, she was also president of the Association.

In 1946 Elizabeth was appointed an MBE for her work with charities, followed by a CBE in 1959 for her work in social welfare.

Christobel Mattingley published 45 children’s books, five biographical or history books for adults, as well as short stories, poems, articles and film scripts.

For her writing, Christobel received numerous awards, including the Children’s Book Council of the Year Award, Younger Readers (1982), and Children’s Christian Book of the Year (1986). In 2017 her book Maralinga’s Long Shadow: Yvonne’s Story, was awarded the Young People’s History Prize in the NSW Premier’s History Awards. In addition, Christobel received two Honorary Doctorates; one from the University of South Australia in 1995 and the other an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Tasmania in 2015.

Christobel Mattingley was also awarded an AM for service to literature, particularly children’s literature, and for community service through her commitment to social and cultural issues in 1996.

Throughout her career artist Leeanne Crisp has held numerous solo exhibitions and been a part of over 60 group exhibitions. She has taught at the Canberra Institute of the Arts, Australian National University, since 1975 and has also been employed at the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery. For her work Leeanne has received the Canberra Institute of Arts Drawing prize (1989), the Tuggeranong Art Prize (2003) and the John Copes Watercolour Prize (2011), in addition to many other awards.

For a short time Nancy Elizabeth Flannery worked as a journalist and broadcaster, before establishing a small publishing company called Nadjuri, where she was the executive editor. In 1971 she published her first book, Change on change: a history of the northern highlands of South Australia.

Nancy also worked as a radio journalist, a tutor in communication skills, as a consultant for the National Film and Sound Archive and as a valuer for the Tax Incentives for the Arts scheme. Nancy developed a particular interest in Antarctica after she was invited to value the Mawson Collection at the University of Adelaide. She became a member of the Friends of Mawson at their inaugural meeting in 2000 and later became their official consultant. Nancy was granted a life membership of in 2006.

The Honourable Dame Roma Mitchell was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 1 January 2000. During her life Dame Roma achieved a number of firsts. She was the first woman Governor of an Australian State (South Australia, 1991-1996), the first woman Chancellor of a university in Australia (University of Adelaide, 1983-1990) and the first Australian woman Queen’s Counsel (1962).

Judith Anderson was the first Australian-born actress to be conferred with the title of Dame. On 01 January 1960 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire – Dames Commander, for services as an actress.

In 1955, Nancy Buttfield became the first South Australian woman member of an Australian Parliament. She was appointed the Order of the British Empire (Dames Commander) on 1 January 1972 for political and public services.

On the 31 December 1977, Mary Durack was appointed to the Order of the British Empire, Dames Commander, for her services to literature. In acknowledgment of her accomplishments she was also honoured with an AC (1989) and OBE in 1966. Dame Mary Durack is remembered as being the author of publications that includes Kings in Grass Castles, To Ride a Fine Horse, Sons in the Saddle and Swan River Saga: Life of Early Pioneer Eliza Shaw.

Sesca Zelling was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1960 in recognition of her service to women and the community of South Australia.

Martha Sarah Bidmead was the first South Australian and one of three Australian nurses who were awarded the Royal Red Cross (RRC) medal for service during the Boer War. After her war service she continued her nursing career in South Australia and assumed the position of superintendent of the District Trained Nursing Society of South Australia from 1912 until her retirement in 1926.

Margaret Lurline Davey’s long standing service and commitment to community work and especially to women’s organisations, was first recognised in 1963 when she was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Almost twenty years later in 1981 her efforts were again recognised when she was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

A Pitjantjatjara woman, Lowitja O’Donoghue worked for Aboriginal organisations or in Indigenous affairs for over 30 years. She was the Founding Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, 1990-1996. O’Donoghue was one of the most prominent members of the stolen generation.

In 2010 Australia’s national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research, The Lowitja Institute, was named in O’Donoghue’s honour.

Dr Helen Mayo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 3 June 1935 for her maternal and child welfare activities. She worked well past retirement age and established several children’s health facilities.

Fanny Eleanor Williams (known as Eleanor) was one of the first three staff members of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in 1920. She co-authored or authored more than fifty publications in her career and specialised in research on dysentery, influenza, hydatids and snake venom. She played a key role in the development of the first Australian blood bank. Not only a researcher, she was also responsible for the training of staff (including Sir Macfarlane Burnet) and, later in life, general organisation of WEHI. According to Sir Macfarlane Burnet and Dr Ian Wood, ‘she was the channel through which serological techniques developed in Melbourne’. Miss Williams was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross on 1 January 1917 for her bacteriological work in the Australian Imperial Force. She was appointed MBE – The Order of the British Empire – Member (Civil) – 13 June 1957, for her work at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

Lady Joyce Ethel Price’s outstanding contribution to the Girl Guides both in Australia and worldwide was first recognised at a commonwealth level in 1968 when she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 1977 she also received the Girl Guide Fish Award; and in 1978 her efforts were further recognised when she was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George – Commanders (CMG).

Natascha McNamara was co-founder of the Aboriginal Training and Cultural Institute in Balmain, New South Wales, and president of the Aboriginal Children’s Advancement Society Ltd. She has also worked to reform the Aboriginal artefacts industry, and held an Adjunct Senior Research Fellowship with the Centre of Indigenous Development Education and Research (CIDEAR) at the University of Wollongong. McNamara was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 3 June 1978, for her work in Aboriginal education, and as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on 8 June 1992.

McNamara is Managing Director of Accord Cross Cultural Development. She is also a member of the Australian Press Council and the Council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

A Kaurna woman, Gladys Elphick was born in Adelaide and brought up on the Point Pearce Reserve. Elphick’s life long work against discrimination and exploitation of Aboriginal people included her formation of the Aboriginal Women’s Council and, with others, a legal aid service, medical service and the Aboriginal Community Centre in Adelaide. Also well known as ‘Aunty Glad’, Elphick was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1971 for services to the Aboriginal community. In 1984, during National Aborigines Week, Elphick was named South Australian Aboriginal of the Year.

Horton (ed) (1994), Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia; Healey (2001), S.A.’s Greats.

A novelist, biographer and political candidate, Jeanne Forster Young passionately advocated proportional representation for women in parliament. She became president of the Democratic Women’s Association of South Australia.

Bessie Rischbieth’s interest in woman’s suffrage was aroused when she attended a suffrage meeting in London in 1908. A co-founder of the Women’s Service Guild of Western Australia in 1909, she was also co-founder and President of the Australian Federation of Women Voters (1921-1942). Rischbieth edited The Dawn, a women’s paper issued in Perth from 1914 to 1939. A talented craftswoman her art embroidery, beaten copperwork and word carvings were exhibited with the West Australian Society of Arts. In the later years of her life Rischbieth clashed with Jessie Street, whom she labelled a communist. Bessie Rischbieth was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her work with women’s movements.

Adelaide Creswell was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 15 March 1918 for services to the Red Cross Society. From 1914 to 1915 she was a member of the provisional committee of the Victorian Division of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society.