Who was the first woman to become a member of Parliament in Victoria? What was the Sisterhood of International Peace? Where can I find the papers of women’s organisations in Australia? Find the answers on the Australian Women’s Register database.
State Library Victoria members can access hundreds of databases from home (if your home is in Victoria). That’s millions of articles, magazines, archives, ebooks, videos, songs, audiobooks and more, available through the catalogue anytime. We’re taking a closer look at new and/or interesting databases as well as hidden gems from our collections. Read on for top picks and tips from Librarians.
Not a member yet? Sign up online first and reward your curiosity. Today we’re looking at The Australian women’s register.
What makes this database so great?
Have you ever tried to find information about a person’s life? An organisation? Perhaps you were writing an article or essay and wanted more documentation. Where could you start? Perhaps you have found bits and pieces of information, but you want more.
That’s the value of The Australian women’s register: it provides biographical information and bibliographies about women in Australia who made their mark on society in very varied ways: the database includes authors, artists, parliamentarians, clerks, nurses, traditional aboriginal custodians, athletes, journalists, photographers, community advocates, political activists, historians, lawyers, scientists, boxers and more. There are over 6200 entries on women who lived in the nineteenth century to the present. Organisations are covered as well.
There are multiple search options: you can search the database by the name of the person, organisation, occupation, topic or theme. Or you can go straight to a search of archival resources and sort by newest or oldest, occupation or alphabetically. Other search options include events, exhibitions, awards, cultural artefacts and place. A person search provides an outline of the woman’s life, a timeline of important events, a list of archival resources, published resources and related resources. An organisation search gives you the purpose and history of each organisation and relevant resources. They run from nineteenth century organisations up to contemporary organisations. Organisations include the Women’s Peace Army, the Country Women’s Association of Victoria, Melbourne Orphan Asylum, the Women’s Peace Army 1915-1919, the Australian Women’s Suffrage Society and later organisations. You can narrow your search to a particular state of Australia and there is information on other women’s registers.
Researchers will welcome the bibliographies, which include links to catalogue resources held at State Library Victoria, other state libraries and the National Library of Australia.
Some highlights
Committee of the Sisterhood of International Peace, 1915; In collection: Records of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, MS 9377;
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Victorian Branch) had its origins with the formation of the Sisterhood of International Peace in Melbourne in 1915. When the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) was founded in Zurich in 1919, the Sisterhood reconstituted itself as the Australian section of this new organisation.
Here’s a snapshot of some women featured in the Australian women’s register:
Lady Millie Peacock (1870 – 1948) was the first woman elected to the Victorian parliament. She won the Legislative Assembly seat of Allandale in 1933, retiring in 1935. Ivy Lavinia Weber was the first woman to be elected to the Victorian parliament in a general election in 1937. State Library Victoria holds a manuscript MS 11017, written by Ivy Weber’s granddaughter Vicki Davies in 1979. Also included are press cuttings relating to Lady Peacock, M.L.A.
Mary Eliza Fullerton, [1900?]; PCLTAF 1250/143
Mary Elizabeth Fullerton (1868-1946) was involved with the Victorian Socialist Party and Women’s Political Association and was active in the suffrage movement in Australia. A close friend of author Miles Franklin, she also wrote novels, stories and poems for newspapers. We hold some of her novels and poetry in our collection and a book of her sonnets
Patsy Adam- Smith (1926-2001), a Victorian author and social historian, is very well represented in State Library Victoria collections. Her numerous works include Hear the train blow, Goodbye girlie, There was a ship; Australian women at war and The Anzacs. We also hold her papers
She notably conducted a series of oral history interviews with World War I veterans in the 1970s. While these oral history tapes are not currently available for use, we are holding an appeal to raise funds to ensure the tapes are preserved and can be made accessible for research.
Edna Walling (1896-1973) author, photographer and ground-breaking landscape designer, is best known for her landscape architecture designs. State Library Victoria holds numerous Walling resources including her papers
(At left) Edna Walling lying down reading a book [1940?] H2018.160/48
(At right) [Back door and seating area – The Barn] [ca. 1951-ca. 1967]; H93.146/100 Shows stone paving, seating and back door of The Barn, Edna Walling’s home from 1951 to 1967, in Bickleigh Vale, Mooroolbark, Victoria,
This is just a glimpse of what The Australian women’s register offers: there is information on over 6000 women and different organisations for you to explore.
Other resources
You may be interested in our other blogs:
State Library Victoria – Edna Walling: wild at heart
Online Collection Spotlight: Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968.
