1890 - 1899

Married Women’s Property Act (PDF 890 KB)

1890

Married Women’s Property Act was passed

The Married Women’s Property Act came into effect in Queensland on 1 January 1891. The introduction of the Act allowed married women to both acquire and dispose of property and other investments independent of their husbands. Additionally, the Act provided that women who acquired property and/or investments prior to a marriage were entitled to retain sole ownership of that property after marriage and to administer and execute upon it.

Source: Queensland University of Technology Library, 2008, OzCase: Queensland Acts 1828 – 1936: The Married Women’s Property Act, 1890, viewed 15 December 2008, <http://ozcase.library.qut.edu.au/qhlc/documents/qr_marr_married_1890_54_Vic_No9.pdf (PDF 890 KB)>.

Courtesy: State Library of Queensland (56320)

1890

May Jordan McConnel (1860 - 1929)

May Jordan (born Mary Emma) was the first paid female union organiser. In 1890, May was elected Secretary of the newly-formed Tailoresses Union. Shortly after, the Brisbane Women’s Union met for the first time and members discussed the issues affecting them with particular focus on securing fair and equitable conditions in the workplace for women. On 17 December 1893, May delivered an address to suffrage supporters, celebrating women’s right to vote in New Zealand. In February 1894, a public meeting was held and the Woman’s Equal Franchise Association was born, with May as Treasurer. The McConnel family left Brisbane for the United States in 1910, leaving their house, Robgill, in Indooroopilly as a gift to Queensland. This house became the Methodist Church’s first institutionalised home for orphans in the state.

Source: Grant, H 2005, Great Queensland Women, State of Queensland (Office for Women), Brisbane.

Courtesy: State Library of Queensland (144022)

1891

Dr Lilian Violet Cooper (1861 - 1947)

Dr Lilian Cooper arrived in Brisbane from England in 1891 and, for ten years, was the only woman practicing medicine in Queensland. Patients were initially wary, unsure of a female doctor’s capabilities, but slowly people came to respect this shy, caring, sympathetic woman who had a special rapport with children. Lilian was a role model and inspiration for young women in the early 1900’s to pursue a career in medicine.

Source: Williams, L 2006, No Better Profession – Medical Women in Queensland 1891 – 1999, Lesley M. Williams, North Tamborine.

Courtesy: State Library of Queensland (19825)

1896

Eliza Ann Fewings (1857 - 1940)

Eliza Fewings’s teaching career began in Wales in 1886 where she was heavily involved in the struggle for equal education opportunities for women. Upon arriving in Queensland in 1896, she accepted the position of Headmistress at Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School but was later dismissed in 1899 following a challenge to her academic abilities. Immediately thereafter, she established the Brisbane State High School for Girls, today known as Somerville House, which became the largest girls’ school in Queensland. Her refined English manners, her views on girls’ education and her unwavering determination were the legacies she left behind, which remain a strong part of Somerville’s philosophy today.

Newspaper article announcing Myra Rendle’s addition to the list of Brisbane dental practitioners (extracted from The Brisbane Courier, Thursday 9 March 1899, page 6). Courtesy: National Library of Australia (nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3689687)

1899

Myra Rendle Mackenzie (1891 - 1969)

Before becoming the first qualified female dentist in Queensland, Myra Rendle Mackenzie’s dentistry career started at the young age of 14, when she commenced a three-year apprenticeship. In 1899, just after her 18th birthday, Myra opened up her own Queensland practice. When the Dental Act of Queensland was passed in 1902, Myra became was the 30th applicant to receive a certificate of registration.

Source: Ramaniuk, R 1994, ‘Pioneer women of dentistry, Myra Rendle Mackenzie’, Australian Dental Association News Bulletin, September 1994, pp 32 – 35.