Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial
Encyclopedia
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
in Kings Park
Kings Park, Western Australia
Kings Park is a park located on the western edge of Perth, Western Australia central business district. The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland. With panoramic views of the Swan...
, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. It was built in 1934 as a memorial to Edith Cowan
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan , MBE was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament....
, the first female member of any Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. It is believed to be the first civic monument erected in Australia to honour an Australian woman.
Monument
The Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial stands at the top of a hill on a traffic island at the junction of Kings Park Road, Malcolm Street and Fraser Avenue, immediately opposite the main entrance to Kings Park. It is about six metres high, and is built from DonnybrookDonnybrook, Western Australia
-Tourism:Donnybrook has many town icons bearing the apple. On the main street, apple-shaped lights line the entrance of the Old Railway Station. These lights have recently been restored. Atop the east Donnybrook hill is a high tower with an apple at the top...
freestone
Freestone
A freestone is a stone used in masonry for molding, tracery and other replication work required to be worked with the chisel. The freestone must be fine-grained, uniform and soft enough to be cut easily without shattering or splitting. Some sources say that the stone has no grain, but this is...
in the Inter-War Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style. In addition to a working clock, it features a bronze plate with a full face portrait of Cowan, and a plaque with the inscription
| ERECTED IN HONOUR OF EDITH DIRCKSEY COWAN O.B.E., J.P. BY THOSE WHO ADMIRED HER MANY GOOD WORKS FOR HUMANITY 1861–1932 FIRST WOMAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT IN AUSTRALIA A LIFE OF SERVICE |
History
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, the welfare and protection of disadvantaged women and children, and other social issues. She was instrumental in the decision to build the King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women
King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women
King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women is located at 374 Bagot Road, Subiaco, Western Australia.It provides pregnancy and neonatal care within the greater Perth Metropolitan area. In cases where patients have gone to private maternity clinics they may be moved to KEMH should complications occur...
, and was a co-founder of the National Council of Women
National Council of Women of Australia
The National Council of Women of Australia is an Australian organisation founded in 1931. The council is an umbrella organisation with which are affiliated seven State and Territory National Councils of Women...
and the Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia...
. In 1920, after Western Australia passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament, Cowan won a seat in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
, thereby becoming the first woman to hold a seat in any Australian parliament.
Cowan died on 9 June 1932, and the following month the Western Australian branch of the National Council for Women scheduled a meeting to discuss the erection of a memorial to her. The meeting was held on 22 September, with the main point of contention being whether the memorial should be a monument or something more utilitarian. Utilitarian proposals included an Edith Cowan Ward at King Edward Memorial Hospital; a model baby health centre; an honour drive in Kings Park; or a pathway in the Parliament House
Parliament House, Perth
Parliament House, Perth is located on Harvest Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. An important building of the Government of Western Australia, it is the home of the Parliament of Western Australia, including the Western Australian Legislative Council and Western Australian Legislative Assembly...
grounds. These were eventually rejected in favour of a monument in Kings Park.
An Edith Cowan Memorial Committee was then formed to raise funds for a monument. In October the Committee wrote to the Kings Park Board to seek approval for the erection of a monument in the park, and suggesting that it could take the form of an archway at the entrance gates. The Kings Park Board refused their request, stating that "the Board have other suggestions in view re the Main Gates, and are disinclined to favourably view the erection of further memorials other than National ones, within the Kings Park." This response caused some offense, as it seemed to imply that Cowan was not considered a person of national significance.
Around this time, the Committee became aware that the Perth City Council was considering the erection of a safety zone for pedestrians in the middle of Kings Park Circus. This was to be a raised circular platform surrounded by pylons. A number of suggestions had been made for a centrepiece for the safety zone, including relocating the Perth Observatory
Perth Observatory
The Perth Observatory is the name of two astronomical observatories located in Western Australia.-First Perth Observatory:The original Perth Observatory was constructed in 1896 and was officially opened in 1900 by John Forrest, the first premier of Western Australia. The observatory was located at...
clock there, or using the site for the Lord Forrest Memorial or the State War Memorial. In December 1932, the Edith Cowan Memorial Committee requested the Council's permission to locate a monument there, and this was approved. Prominent Perth architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Harold Boas
Harold Boas
Harold Boas was a town planner and architect in Western Australia. Boas designed many public buildings in and around Perth and was an influential Jewish community leader....
and City Engineer Henry Atwell then began work on a design for the monument. Their design was approved by the Edith Cowan Memorial Committee in February 1933, and a sketch of the design was published in The West Australian
The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
.
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against construction of the monument in the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Western Australia
The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters , and hears the most serious criminal matters.The Supreme Court consists of a General Division The Supreme Court of Western...
. This injunction was eventually refused, and construction of the monument went ahead. Perth portrait painter Margaret Johnson
Margaret Johnson
Margaret Johnson was an American blues and early jazz vocalist and pianist.Johnson's primary era of recording activity as a vocalist was 1925-1927. Prior to this, she had worked in vaudeville...
was selected to sculpt Cowan's portrait, and W. Ogilvy won the construction contract. Work began on the monument in May 1934, and Lieutenant-Governor
Governor of Western Australia
The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
James Mitchell
James Mitchell (Australian politician)
Sir James Mitchell GCMG was the 13th Premier of Western Australia, serving on two occasions, the Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia for 15 years and the 22nd Governor of Western Australia....
unveiled it on 9 June, the second anniversary of Cowan's death.
The monument and its surroundings remained largely unchanged until some time after 1974, when the traffic island was enlarged, the pylons removed, and the platform replaced by lawn. The Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial remains at the location, and is considered to be in good condition. It was re-dedicated on 12 March 1996, the 75th anniversary of Cowan's election to parliament.