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{{Short description|Australian social reformer and politician (1861–1932)}}
{{about|the Australian social activist|other uses|Edith Cowan (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Edith Cowan
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|size=100%|country=AUS-cats|OBE}}
| image               = Edith Cowan 1900.jpg
| caption             = Cowan in {{c.}} 1900
| office              = Member of the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]]<br/>of [[Western Australia]]<br/>for [[Electoral district of West Perth|West Perth]]
| term_start          = 12 March 1921
| term_end            = 22 March 1924
| predecessor         = [[Thomas Draper]]
| successor           = [[Thomas Davy (politician)|Thomas Davy]]
| birth_name          = Edith Dircksey Brown
| birth_date          = {{Birth-date|2 August 1861}}
| birth_place         = Glengarry station, near [[Geraldton]], [[Western Australia]]
| death_date          = {{Death-date and age|9 June 1932|2 August 1861}}
| death_place         = [[Subiaco, Western Australia|Subiaco]], Western Australia
| resting_place       = [[Karrakatta Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]]
| spouse              = {{Marriage|James Cowan|1879}}
| signature           = Edith Cowan signature 1929.svg
| relatives           = 
}}
'''Edith Dircksey Cowan''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS-cats|OBE}} (''{{nee}}'' '''Brown'''; 2 August 1861 – 9 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a [[member of parliament]]. Cowan has been featured on the reverse of [[Australian fifty-dollar note|Australia's fifty-dollar note]] since 1995.

Cowan was born at Glengarry station near [[Geraldton]], [[Western Australia]]. She was the granddaughter of two of the colony's early settlers, [[Thomas Brown (settler)|Thomas Brown]] and [[John Burdett Wittenoom|John Wittenoom]]. Cowan's mother died when she was seven, and she was subsequently sent to boarding school in [[Perth]]. At the age of 15, her father, [[Kenneth Brown (pastoralist)|Kenneth Brown]], was hanged for the murder of her stepmother, making her an orphan. She subsequently lived with her grandmother in [[Guildford, Western Australia]] until her marriage at the age of 18. She and her husband would have five children together, splitting their time between homes in [[West Perth, Western Australia|West Perth]] and [[Cottesloe, Western Australia|Cottesloe]].

In 1894, Cowan was one of the founders of the [[Karrakatta Club]], the first women's [[social club]] in Australia. She became prominent in the [[women's suffrage]] movement, which saw women in Western Australia granted the right to vote in 1899. Cowan was also a leading advocate for [[public education]] and the rights of children (particularly those born to [[single mother]]s). She was one of the first women to serve on a local [[board of education]], and in 1906 helped to found the Children's Protection Society, whose lobbying resulted in the creation of the [[Children's Court of Western Australia|Children's Court]] the following year. Cowan was a co-founder of the [[Women's Service Guilds|Women's Service Guild]] in 1909, and in 1911 helped establish a state branch of the [[National Council of Women of Australia|National Council of Women]].

Cowan was a key figure in the creation of the [[King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women]], and became a member of its advisory board when it opened in 1916. She was made a justice of the Children's Court in 1915<ref name=cc1>{{cite news |title=News and notes |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26944889 |access-date=1 November 2020 |work=The West Australian |date=10 June 1915 |location=Perth, WA |page=6}}</ref><ref name=cc2>{{cite news |title=Mainly About People |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/80997744 |access-date=1 November 2020 |work=Daily News |date=31 July 1915 |location=Perth, WA |page=5}}</ref> and a [[justice of the peace]] in 1920. [[1921 Western Australian state election|In 1921]], Cowan was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Western Australia]] as a member of the [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist Party]], becoming Australia's first female parliamentarian. She was defeated after just a single term, but maintained a high profile during her tenure and managed to secure the passage of several of her [[private member's bill]]s.

==Early life==
[[File:Edith Cowan 1876 or 1877.jpg|thumb|upright| Cowan as a teenager, {{c.}} 1876]]
[[File:Edith Cowan 1879.jpg|thumb|upright|Cowan in her wedding dress]]
Cowan was born on 2 August 1861 at Glengarry, a [[sheep station]] near [[Geraldton]], [[Western Australia]].{{efn|Glengarry station is now located in [[Moonyoonooka]], a rural locality on the eastern margin of Geraldton.<ref>{{cite web |title=Municipal Inventory of Heritage Places Place Record: Glengarry |url=https://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/Profiles/cgg/Assets/ClientData/Document-Centre/Planning/Heritage/Greenough/Greenough_Heritage_Place_Number-165-MCH126990.pdf |publisher=City of Greater Geraldton |accessdate=31 May 2021 |date=13 December 2018}}</ref>}} She was the second child of [[Kenneth Brown (pastoralist)|Kenneth Brown]], [[Pastoralism|pastoralist]] and son of early York settlers [[Thomas Brown (settler)|Thomas]] and [[Eliza Brown (settler)|Eliza Brown]], and his first wife Mary Eliza Dircksey Wittenoom, a teacher and the daughter of the colonial chaplain, {{thinspace|J.|B.}} Wittenoom. Cowan's mother died in childbirth in 1868 when Cowan was only seven. She went to a [[Perth]] boarding school run by the Misses Cowan,<ref>{{cite news |title=Review |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106235110 |access-date=29 May 2021 |work=The Herald |date=20 February 1869 |location=Fremantle |page=2}}</ref> sisters of her future husband. Her adolescence was shattered in 1876 by the ordeal of her father's trials and hanging for the murder, that year, of his second wife. He murdered his second wife by shooting her when they were packing. Cowan was a solitary person, committed nevertheless to social reforms which enhanced women's dignity and responsibility and which secured proper care for mothers and children.

After her father's death, Cowan left her boarding school and moved to [[Guildford, Western Australia|Guildford]] to live with her grandmother. There, she attended tuition of Canon Sweeting, a former headmaster of [[hale School|Bishop Hale's School]] who had taught a number of prominent men including [[John Forrest]] and [[Septimus Burt]]. According to her biographer, Sweeting's tuition left Cowan with "a life-long conviction of the value of education, and an interest in books and reading".

==Community work==
[[File:Edith Cowan, 1921.jpg|thumb|upright|Cowan in 1921, the year she was elected to parliament]]
Cowan became involved with social issues and injustices in the legal system, especially with respect to women and children. In 1894, she helped found the [[Karrakatta Club]], a group in which women "educated themselves for the kind of life they believed they ought to be able to take". In time, she became the club's president, life member, and trustee.<ref name="WANP_centenary">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32292912 |title=CENTENARY PERSONALITIES. |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |volume=XLV |issue=8,437 |location=Western Australia |date=5 July 1929 |access-date=23 April 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The Karrakatta Club became involved in the campaign for [[Women's suffrage in Australia|women's suffrage]], successfully gaining the vote for women in 1899.

After the turn of the century, she turned her eye to welfare issues. She was particularly concerned with [[women's health]] and the welfare of disadvantaged groups, such as disadvantaged children and prostitutes. She became extraordinarily active in women's organisations and welfare organisations, serving on numerous committees. The building of Perth's [[King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women]] in 1916 was largely a result of her efforts. She helped form the [[Women's Service Guilds]] in 1909 and was a co-founder of the Western Australia's [[National Council of Women of Australia|National Council of Women]], serving as president from 1913 to 1921 and vice-president until her death. Cowan was also a Western Australian delegate to the national assembly for 19 years.<ref name="WANP_centenary"/>

In 1916, she became a [[Freemason]], admitted to the Australian federation of [[Le Droit Humain|Droit Humain]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Female Freemasons|url=https://freemasonryformenandwomen.org.au/female-freemasons/|publisher=International Order of Freemasonry for Men & Women - Australian Federation|access-date=2021-11-08|archive-date=6 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106203930/http://www.freemasonryformenandwomen.org.au/female-freemasons/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

She believed that children should not be tried as adults and, accordingly, founded the Children's Protection Society. The society had a major role in the subsequent introduction of children's courts. In 1915, she was appointed to the bench of the new court<ref name=cc1/><ref name=cc2/> and continued on in this position for eighteen years. In 1920, she became one of the first female [[Justice of the Peace|Justices of the Peace]]. Her great great nephew [[David Malcolm]] followed in her footsteps, by becoming [[Chief Justice of Western Australia|Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Western Australia]] in 1988.

During [[World War I]], she collected food and clothing for soldiers at the front and coordinated efforts to care for returned soldiers. She became chairperson of the Red Cross Appeal Committee and was rewarded when, in 1920, she was appointed an Officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (OBE).<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1107641 It's an Honour: OBE]. Retrieved 16 December 2015</ref>

In her final years, she was an Australian delegate to the 1925 International Conference of Women held in the United States. She helped to found the [[Royal Western Australian Historical Society]] in 1926 and assisted in the planning of Western Australia's 1929 Centenary celebrations. Though she remained involved in social issues, illness forced her to withdraw somewhat from public life in later years.

=== Community positions held ===
Beside being a Member of Parliament, Cowan held positions on many boards in Western Australia, in 1929 during the centenary ''[[The West Australian]]'' published a list of these;<ref name="WANP_centenary"/>
{{columns-list|colwidth=35em|
* Perth Hospital Board
* King Edward Maternity Hospital Advisory Board
* Chairman of the Perth Hospital Red Cross Auxiliary
* President of the Military Nurses Home committee
* President of Pageantry and sights committee – WA Historical Society
* Vice President of WA League of Nations Union
* Red Cross division committee
* Children's Protection Society
* Town Planning Association
* Housewives Association
* Infant Health Association
* WA Historical Society
* Nationalist Party Executive
* Governor of St Mary's Church School
* General and Provisional Synods of the Church of England
* Bush Nursing Association
* Centenary Committee
* Women's Immigration Auxiliary
* Girl Guides Council
* Karrakatta Club
* Western Australia National Council of Women
}}

==Politics==
[[File:Edith Cowan WANP 05Jul1929.jpg|thumb|right|Quote signed Edith Cowan]]
In 1921, Western Australia passed [[legislation]] allowing women to stand for parliament. At the age of 59, she stood as the [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]] candidate for the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] [[Electoral district of West Perth|seat of West Perth]] because she felt that domestic and social issues were not being given enough attention. She won a surprise victory, defeating the [[Attorney-General of Western Australia|Attorney-General]], [[Thomas Draper]], who had introduced the legislation that enabled her to stand. Cowan was the first woman to be elected to an Australian parliament. She campaigned for [[women's rights]] in [[parliament]], pushing through legislation which allowed women to be involved in the legal profession. She succeeded in placing mothers in an equal position with fathers when their children died without having made a will and was one of the first to promote [[sex education]] in schools. However, she lost her seat at the 1924 election and failed to regain it in 1927.

Cowan supported [[Secessionism in Western Australia|the secession of Western Australia]] from the federation and was active in the [[Dominion League]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32477067|title=Women's Rally|newspaper=The West Australian|date=5 April 1933}}</ref> In September 1930 she spoke at the inaugural meeting of the league's [[Claremont, Western Australia|Claremont]] branch alongside leading secession campaigner [[Keith Watson (politician)|Keith Watson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33342080|title=Secession|newspaper=The West Australian|date=12 September 1930}}</ref> She was a delegate to the secession convention in August 1931 and successfully moved a motion calling on members "to support, irrespective of party divisions, election candidates pledged to secession and to the securing of a referendum".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38533121|title=Secession Convention|date=6 August 1931|newspaper=The West Australian}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Cowan home 021016 gnangarra-1001.JPG|thumb|right|Cowan's residence from 1883 to 1896 and then again from 1912 to 1919 – added to the state register of heritage properties in 2016<ref>{{cite news|last=Acott|first=Ken|title=Old home saved from demolition |url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/32720006/home-built-by-edith-cowan-saved-from-demolition/#page1|access-date=2 October 2016|agency=The West Australian|date=25 September 2016}}</ref>]]
At the age of 18, on 12 November 1879, Edith married James Cowan, then Registrar of the Supreme Court. They lived at ''Scotstoun'', 71 Malcolm Street, [[West Perth, Western Australia|West Perth]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/782a41f6-ebc5-43a8-9dd2-1da87c672861 | title=InHerit - State Heritage Office }}</ref> for most of their lives, but are also well known for having one of the first houses in Avonmore Terrace, [[Cottesloe, Western Australia|Cottesloe]], where they lived from 1896 to 1912.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cowan, Dircksey Constance (1880-) |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1527205 |website=Trove |publisher=National Library of Australia |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref>
Cowan was married in [[St George's Cathedral, Perth]]. She was one of the first women elected to the Anglican Synod in 1916.

==Death and burial==


Following an extended period of ill-health Cowan died of [[pancreatic cancer]] at the [[Avro Hospital]], Subiaco on 9 June 1932, at the age of 70. After a short service at St. Mary's Church, West Perth, a large public funeral was held at [[Karrakatta Cemetery]] where she was buried.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Late Mrs Cowan - Impressive Funeral|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32665339|access-date=25 May 2020 |work=The West Australian |date=13 June 1932|location=Perth, WA |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs Cowan's death |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83706829 |access-date=25 May 2020 |work=The Daily News |date=9 June 1932 |location=Perth, WA |page=1}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial1.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial]], formerly known as the Edith Cowan Memorial Clock]]
[[File:2018 Australian fifty dollar note reverse.jpg|thumb|right|Edith Cowan's portrait appears on the back of Australia's fifty-dollar note.]]
Two years after her death, the [[Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial|Edith Cowan Memorial Clock]] was unveiled at the entrance to Perth's [[Kings Park, Western Australia|Kings Park]]. Believed to be the first civic monument to an Australian woman, it was built in the face of persistent opposition which has been characterised as "representative of a [[gender bias]] operating at the time".<ref>[[Heritage Council of Western Australia]], 2000</ref>

Her portrait featured on an Australian postage stamp in 1975,<ref>Australian Women stamps series: Edith Cowan http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0011310.jpg</ref> as part of a six-part "Australian Women" series. [[Australia Post]] honoured Edith again in 2021, for the centenary of her election, as Australia’s first woman parliamentarian. During the [[WAY 1979]] sesquicentennial celebrations, a plaque was laid in [[St Georges Terrace]] in her honour. It is on the corner of Milligan Street and is for 1921.

In 1984, the federal [[Division of Cowan]] was created and named after her, and in January 1991 the Western Australian College of Advanced Education was renamed [[Edith Cowan University]] (ECU).<ref>History of Edith Cowan University and its Predecessor institutions http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/rams/history.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315220856/http://www.ecu.edu.au/GPPS/rams/history.html |date=15 March 2012 }}</ref>

Her portrait appears on the [[Australian fifty dollar note]], a [[polymer banknote]] that was first issued in October 1995. In 2019 the release of the latest $50 note caused a sensation when it was discovered that the word 'responsibility' in Edith Cowan's speech was spelt incorrectly, missing the last 'i'. In 1996, a [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]] honouring her was placed in [[St George's Cathedral, Perth]]. There are references to her in the [[Centenary of Western Australian Women's Suffrage Memorial]] in Kings Park, and in a [[tapestry]] that was hung in [[King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women|King Edward Memorial Hospital]] in 2000 to honour women involved in the hospital.

In 1991, Edith Cowan University purchased the house in which Edith Cowan, her husband and family had resided at 71 Malcolm Street.<ref name="edith-cowan-house">Edith Cowan House: the reconstruction http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36356521</ref> They resided in the house from 1919 for approximately 20 years.<ref name="edith-cowan-house"/> The house was reconstructed on the university's [[Joondalup]] campus with the assistance of the [[West Coast College of TAFE]]. The reconstructed house opened in 1997<ref name="edith-cowan-house"/> as Building 20 on that campus, and currently houses the [[Peter Cowan (writer)|Peter Cowan]] Writer's Centre.<ref>Peter Cowan Writer's Centre {{cite web |url=http://www.pcwc.org.au/index.php?p=1_12 |title=Peter Cowan Writers' Centre |access-date=2010-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226212001/http://www.pcwc.org.au/index.php?p=1_12 |archive-date=26 February 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Edith Cowan was added to the [[Victorian Honour Roll of Women]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://herplacemuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2001-Honour-Roll-Booklet-2.pdf|title=Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2001}}</ref> in 2001. Her life was the subject of the stage play ''With Fire in Her Heart: the Edith Cowan Story'' by Western Australian author and playwright Trevor Todd, in 2020.

A statue of Cowan was added to [[St Georges Terrace]] in June 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Holly |date=2025-06-12 |title=St Georges Terrace gets its first statue of a woman |url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/st-georges-terrace-gets-its-first-statue-of-a-woman-20250613-p5m758.html |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=WAtoday |language=en}}</ref> It is located in front of ANZAC House, the current location of the Karrakatta Club.

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Other sources==
*{{Black and Bolton 2001}}
*{{cite book | author = [[David Black (historian)|Black, David]] and Phillips, Harry | year = 2000 | title = Making a Difference: Women in the Western Australian Parliament 1921–1999 | location = Parliament House, Perth, Western Australia: Parliament of Western Australia | isbn = 0-7307-4464-7}}
*{{cite book | author = Cowan, Peter | year = 1978 | title = A unique position: a biography of Edith Dircksey Cowan 1861–1932 | location = Nedlands, Western Australia | publisher = University of Western Australia Press | isbn = 0-85564-135-5}}
* {{cite book|first=Harry|last=Phillips|title=The Voice of Edith Cowan: Australia's First Woman Parliamentarian 1921–1924|url=https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=7821&context=ecuworks|publisher=Edith Cowan University|isbn=0729802884|year=1996}}
*{{Dictionary of Australian Biography | First = Edith | Last = Cowan | shortlink=0-dict-biogCl-Cu.html#cowan1}}
*{{cite web |date=20 December 2000 |url=http://www.heritage.wa.gov.au/register/PDF_Files/E%20-%20A-D/Edith%20D%20Cowan%20Mem%20(I-AD).PDF |title=Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial |work=Register of Heritage Places – Assessment Documentation |publisher=[[Heritage Council of Western Australia]] |access-date=24 May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820191558/http://www.heritage.wa.gov.au/register/PDF_Files/E%20-%20A-D/Edith%20D%20Cowan%20Mem%20%28I-AD%29.PDF |archive-date=20 August 2006 |df=dmy-all }}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{Australian Women and Leadership|WLE0162b|Cowan, Edith Dircksey}}
*[https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/library/MPHistoricalData.nsf/(Lookup)/80E6430BA5F9A786482577E50028A588?OpenDocument  ''Edith Dircksey Cowan'' in ''Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia'']

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Edith}}
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian women politicians]]
[[Category:Australian suffragists]]
[[Category:Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery]]
[[Category:Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Australian Freemasons]]
[[Category:People from Geraldton]]
[[Category:Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Australia]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Australian women activists]]