The Australian Women's Register

In 1999 Marsha Thomson was elected Member of the Legislative Council (ALP) for Melbourne North Province at the Victorian state election. She served as the Minister for Information and Communication Technology and Small Business from 2002 until 2006. In 2006 she moved from the Legislative Council to be elected Member of the Legislative Assembly for Footscray. She held the position of Parliamentary Secretary, Industry and Trade from August 2007 until December 2010. She was re-elected in 2010 but the Labor Government was voted out of office. She was again re-elected in November 2014, when the Labor Party returned to power.

She is married to Federal Parliamentarian, the Hon. Kelvin Thomson MP, and is the mother of two children, Ben and Naomi.

Following the birth of her children, Beryl Beaurepaire became involved with charity work and the women’s organisations of the Liberal Party. She summarises her liberal feminist views as follows: ‘If you’re a feminist you believe in equal opportunities and rights for women, but you also believe that women accept equal responsibilities.’ (As cited by Emma Grahame in Australian Feminism: A Companion, OUP, 1998)

Dame Beryl passed away at her home in Mt Eliza, Victoria, on 24 October 2018.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch was widely regarded as the ‘queen of Australia’s philanthropic community’ through much of the twentieth century. She was Patron of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Victoria and supported 110 charitable organisations annually.

In 1923 Florence Wallace (as she was then known) graduated as an electrical engineer from Sydney Technical College and in 1924 became Australia’s first certificated woman radio telegraphist and the only woman member of the Wireless Institute of Australia. She was the founder and director of the Electrical Association for Women, established in 1934. In 1939 she founded and directed the Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps, which later became the starting point for the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). Rosemary Broomham wrote in the biography of Florence McKenzie in 200 Australian Women that altogether Mrs McKenzie trained over 10,000 servicemen in Morse, visual signalling and international code, and she trained 3000 women, a third of whom went into the Services. On 8 June 1950 Florence McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her work with the Women’s Emergency Signals Corps.

Journalist Margaret Curtis-Otter, whose husband (Donald) was serving with the navy, enlisted in the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) on 18 January 1943 and became second in charge of this service. She was one of the first 16 officers and became an adviser to the Naval Board after the war, as well as Acting Director WRANS, while Sheila McClemans attended the Victory Parade in London in 1946. Margaret Curtis-Otter worked with Naval Control, assisting with the assembling of convoys and arranging for the departure of merchant ships. Later she became one of the founders of the Naval Information Service, when she joined the Naval Office. In 1975 the Naval Historical Society published W.R.A.N.S. : the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service written by Margaret-Curtis Otter. On 2 January 1956 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services as Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association.

Kitty McEwan was educated at Ormiston Ladies’ College and became a freelance journalist working with Australian Home Beautiful in 1929. Interested in the game of golf, she began writing about women and golf, for the Radiator in 1937 and the Sun News-Pictorial in 1938. She organised fund-raising for patriotic appeals during World War II. In June 1942 McEwan was appointed superintendent in Victoria of the Australian Women’s Land Army, a position she held until March 1946. After the war she returned to journalism, writing for the Sun News-Pictorial from which she retired in 1966. Kitty McEwan served as honorary publicity officer and an executive member of the National Council of Women Victoria and a councillor of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. She died on 17 August 1969, aged 75 years.

Clare Stevenson was appointed Director of the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force on 9 June 1941. Thus she became head of the first Women’s Service formed in Australia for ground-staff duties with an armed force. After the war Stevenson returned to her executive position with Berlei Ltd. Also she became involved with community work. For forty years she was affiliated with the Services Canteens Trust Fund. Clare Stevenson, with a group of friends, helped initiate the Scholarship Trust Fund for Civilian Widows’ Children. She also helped establish the Kings Cross Community Aid Centre as well as the Carer’s Association of New South Wales. On 11 June 1960 Clare Stevenson was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for social welfare services on behalf of ex-servicewomen. On Australia Day 1988 she received the Member of the Order of Australia award for service to the community and to the welfare of veterans.

Kathleen Deasey was appointed assistant-controller Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS), Southern Command in November 1941. Prior to joining the AWAS, Deasey was lady superintendent at Melbourne’s Ladies College, Melbourne. Following World War II, Deasey worked with the Department of Immigration, after which she studied at the Sorbonne, Paris. Later Deasey returned to teaching and was a senior tutor in education at the University of Melbourne and then became Principal of St Ann’s College, University of Adelaide.

Colonel Dulcie Verinder’s appointment was “Head of Corps”, rather than Director. She graduated from the first WRAAC Officer Cadet Course in December 1952, and served in various capacities with the WRAAC, including five years as Chief Instructor at the WRAAC School.

In 1976 Dulcie Verinder was promoted to Colonel. At that time she was the only female officer to have been promoted to Colonel for appointment outside her Corps.

Colonel Dulcie Elizabeth Verinder was Head of the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps from 1979 until 1981. On 14 July 1977 she was awarded the National Medal.

The youngest child of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and Sir Keith Murdoch, Janet Calvert-Jones follows the family tradition, established by both of her parents, of being involved in business as well as philanthropy.

Daughter of Douglas and Eina (née Pennicott) Boyd, Prue Boyd was educated at Clyde School, Woodend, Victoria. In 1947 she completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Melbourne, and was married to Kenneth Myer that same year. The couple were to have five children: four sons and one daughter, Joanna Baevski (q.v.). Prue Boyd and Kenneth Myer were divorced in 1977.

A council member of St Hilda’s College (University of Melbourne) from 1964 until 1971, Prue obtained her Diploma of Education from Monash University in 1972 and became a tutor at the Council of Education in Melbourne. In 1977 she was appointed as a Director of the Australian Institute of Political Science, and in 1981 was awarded her Master of Laws degree by Monash University.

A member of the Lyceum Club (Melbourne), Prue Boyd’s interests include international affairs – especially Third World development, federalism and the Australian Constitution. She enjoys music, reading, films and theatre.

Margaret Anderson enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service at Dandenong (Victoria) on 19 September 1941.

On 12 February 1942, three days before the fall of Singapore, the freighter, Empire Star sailed from Singapore Harbour. The ship which normally had an allocation of space for 20 passengers was carrying over 2100 people. While on route to Batavia the ship came under enemy fire and received three direct hits. During one of the raids two of the Australian nursing staff on board, Sisters Margaret Anderson and Vera Torney, came on deck to attend to the wounded. They protected their patients by covering them with their bodies.

Staff Nurse Margaret Anderson was awarded the George Medal on 22 September 1942 for her bravery when the ship was attacked by enemy aircraft. Staff Nurse Vera Torney was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Military).

On 4 June 1946 Lieutenant Margaret Anderson was discharged from the Australian Army Nursing Service.

The second daughter of Vance and Nettie (née Higgins) Palmer, Helen Palmer spent a year in London after being educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (Melbourne) where she was dux in 1934. Returning to Melbourne she won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne and graduated with a BA and DipEd in 1939. She later obtained a B.Ed. (1952). From 1940 until 1942 she was a teacher in Victorian State schools.

Helen Palmer enlisted in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force on 18 February 1942 and during her service worked in the education division. After the war she worked with the Commonwealth Office of Education (Sydney). In 1948 she returned to Melbourne teaching in private schools.

She made several trips to China and in 1953 published her observations in An Australian Teacher in China. Through the bi-monthly publication Outlook (1957-1970), Helen Palmer provided a forum for vigorous discussion of all issues which were part of a radical critique of Australian politics and society.

The author (with Jessie MacLeod) of First Hundred Years (1954) and After the First Hundred Years (1961), she also authored books on Australian literature, popular culture and history. Helen Palmer was also a prominent poet and balladist and is remembered for ‘The Ballard of 1891,’ that describes the shearers’ strike.

Helen Palmer died on 6 May 1979.

Amirah Inglis was a devoted and active member of the Communist Party in Australia during the politically turbulent Menzies era. Her autobiographical works describe the difficulties and confusion of growing up a migrant in Australia, born of Polish-Jewish parents. She has also written essays, reviews and books on Papua New Guinea, and on the Spanish Civil War.

The hammer & sickle and the washing up: memories of an Australian woman Communist includes descriptions of Amirah’s life in Canberra in the 1960s, and her marriage to academic Ken Inglis.

The daughter of Alholstane Chase and Rosina (née Sherrin), Elizabeth Burchill completed her education at the Camberwell State School and the Ladies Business College, Melbourne, as well as at Melbourne and Monash Universities.

Before World War II Burchill worked at the Australian Inland Mission, Innamincka, Labrador, Grenfell Mission, and was a member of the British Ambulance Unit, caring for refugee children during the Spanish Civil War. She enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on 21 December 1939 and was one of the first nurses from Victoria to go to the Middle East with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force in 1940. After the war she combined nursing with writing – particularly about the area in which she had nursed. Her publications include Australian Nurses since Nightingale: 1860-1990, a largely biographical history published in 1992.

On 8 June 1998, Sister Elizabeth Burchill was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to nursing, particularly as an historian, author and philanthropist. Also she has won the Jessie Lichfield Annual Award and the Veterans’ Affairs Writers Award.

The daughter of R G and F H Anderson, Margaret Darling was educated at St Catherine’s College Toorak. After serving with the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service from 1943 to 1945, she married L G Darling and they had four children. A member of the Alexandra Club (Melbourne), Margaret Darling enjoys travel, gardening, music and country pursuits. On 10 June 1991, Margaret Darling was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the National Trust of Victoria.

On 8th June 1992, Sheila Scotter was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the Arts, particularly through fundraising. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Civil) on 13th June 1970 for services to journalism and commerce.

Helena Marfell was the inaugural national president of the Country Women’s Association of Australia in 1945.

Annie Laidlaw devoted her life to nursing and served in both world wars. She completed her nursing training at the Children’s Hospital (later Royal), Melbourne. In 1917 Laidlaw joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and served in military hospitals at Bombay and Poona.

After the war Laidlaw returned to the Children’s Hospital as ward sister. In 1925 she was granted a year of leave to complete midwifery training at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney. Returning to Melbourne, Annie became assistant lady superintendent (assistant-matron) at the Children’s Hospital. In 1930 she was promoted to lady superintendent of the hospital’s orthopaedic section at Frankston. She held this position for 12 years.

Selected to head the Royal Australian Naval Nursing Service (RANNS) in 1942 she was in charge of the Flinders Naval Depot hospital as well as being in charge of the RANNS. After her discharge from the navy Laidlaw returned to her position at the Children’s Hospital until 1950.

From 1951-52 she worked in London. On her return to Melbourne she took the position of Matron at the Freemason’s Homes of Victoria, Prahran until her retirement in 1957. Aged 89, Annie Laidlaw died on 13 September 1978 at McKinnon, Victoria.

Marjory Taylor became a Member of the Order of Australia on 9 June 1980 for her service to nursing.

During World War II she served with the Royal Australian Airforce Nursing Service (1944-1946) and worked voluntarily as senior nursing officer with the Girl Guide International Service in the British Zone, Germany, for three years.

From 1950 until 1981 Marjory worked with the Geelong Hospital, first as supervisor of the Maternity Wing and then Director of nursing. For 17 years – two as president – Marjory was a board member of the Intellectually Handicapped (Karingal) and was a founder and Board Member of the Geelong Hospice Care Association.

Mickey Syer enlisted at Claremont, Western Australia, in the Australian Army on 6 February 1941. A member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, she was stationed with the 2/10th Australian General Hospital when captured by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. Mickey spent three and a half years in Japanese prisoner of war camps in Sumatra.

During October 1945, she returned to Australia and was discharged from the Army on 10 August 1948.

After moving to Canberra with her family in 1926, Jessie Daley became involved with a variety of community associations. She joined the Canberra Society of Arts and Literature, was the first President of the Canberra Ladies’ Choir, became a member (later President) of the Canberra Golf Club Associates as well as being a member of the Canberra Women’s Hockey Club and school associations.

In 1930 Daley became President of the local Girl Guides’ association and was district commissioner (1931-1932).

A member of the Canberra Mothercraft Society, Daley was Vice-President from 1930 until March 1935 when she became President. It was at a difficult time for the society with board disharmony and staffing problems. She resigned as President in May 1935 and was not re-elected.

Daley became a member of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), using her expertise to organise social, sporting and cultural activities as a welcome for newcomers to the city and to raise funds for charity. In 1937 she became Vice-President of the YWCA’s Canberra branch and a non-resident member of the national board.

On 4 July 1939 Daley was elected Foundation President of the Australian Capital Territory branch of the National Council of Women. The Council worked with the Canberra Relief Society to assist the needy.

Jessie Daley died of cancer on 10 November 1943 at Mosman.

The eldest daughter of medical practitioner, Percy and Lily (née Johnston) Shelton, Moira Dynon was educated at Presentation Convent, Elsternwick, Loreto Convent, Toorak and the University of Melbourne. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1941, Dynon was commissioned in the Women’s Australian Auxiliary Air Force and assisted Wing Commander R J W Le Fevre with chemical warfare munitions. Following her discharge she became a research officer with the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and later with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

On 2 December 1950 she married John Dynon and they had five children. At this stage Dynon became involved with community organisations. These included the Catholic Mothers’ Club Federation, the Catholic Women’s Social Guild and the Australian Council of Catholic Women. In 1952 the Dynons established the Malvern branch of the United Nations Australia Association, Victorian division. In 1960 she initiated and ran an appeal to provide secondary education for Japanese children of returned Australian servicemen. Moira Dynon became chairman of the Aid for India and president of its successor Aid India. She also helped with famine-relief campaigns in Bengal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Major Hilda Florence Meyer was appointed Assistant Controller Australian Army Medical Women’s Service (AAMWS) Land Headquarters (L.H.Q) and she served in this capacity from November 1942 until August 1944. She attended the third Australian Women’s Services Administrative School in Melbourne, which was established in 1943, to gain advanced training in Army organisation and administration. Courses were held at the school between October 1943 and July 1945. Major Meyer was appointed Deputy Assistant Controller AAMWS Headquarters, Western Command, to administer the movement and placement of AAMWS in Western Australian medical units between 1944 and 1945.

Source used to compile this entry: From Blue to Khaki by Betty Mount-Batten p. 48

Before enlisting in the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) in 1960, June Healy was a member of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corp. She attended the 9/60 Officer Cadet Course (OCS) and was then posted as Adjutant/Quartermaster at 31 WRAAC Barrack Melbourne and in 1962 to WRAAC School as Adjutant (CMF).

After her marriage to Major John Healy in 1963, June held an assortment of positions, usually in the area of training and office management, wherever her husband was posted. Also she worked as a volunteer on numerous Army Wives Committees and helped in setting up the first Thrift Shop at the Canungra Land Welfare Centre to assist in the funding of the local Girl Guides. In 1978 Healy became a member of the WRAAC Association and served as the State vice-president and president of the ACT Association. From 1995 until 1999 she was National president. From 1981 Healy was a foundation member of the Defence Widows Support Group. This group assists defence widows whose husbands were not killed during war service, did not die of war caused disabilities and therefore do not qualify for a War Widows’ Pension. On 11 June 1990 June Healy was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to veterans. In 1994 she became a member of the War Widows’ Guild of Australia (ACT) and was State president from 1995 to 1998 and National president from 1998 to 2002.

In October 2002 June Healy joined the Australian Women in War Project representing the War Widows’ Guild of Australia.

Over the course of her life Alice Moss worked with a number of women’s organisations, as well as various education, child welfare and Red Cross societies. Educated at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne, she married I H Moss in 1887 (deceased 1938) and they had two daughters. In 1914 she relinquished her position as vice-president of the Australian Women’s National League to become the only female member of the Victorian recruiting committee for the Armed Services. Later she became the only woman member of the Victorian Centenary Celebrations executive committee (1933-1934). At the same time she was president of the Women’s Centenary Council of Victoria as well as being the first president of the National Council of Women (1931-1936). On 4 June 1934 she was appointed Commander of the British Empire.

After her husband’s death in 1896 Jessie White commenced general nursing training at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. She completed her midwifery training at the Women’s Hospital (later Royal) in 1901. Five years later she was in charge and running her own private hospital as well as serving as a reservist in the Australian Army Nursing Service.

When war broke out in 1914, she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service, rising through the ranks to be appointed Principal Matron of the Australian Army Nursing Service in December 1915.