Edith Cowan
| Edith Dircksey Cowan OBE |
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| Member of the Parliament of Western Australia for West Perth |
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In office 1921–1924 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Percy Draper |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Davy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 August 1861 Geraldton, Western Australia |
| Died | 9 June 1932 Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Nationalist |
| Spouse(s) | James Cowan |
| Profession | Politician |
| Religion | Anglican |
Edith Dircksey Cowan (née Brown), OBE (2 August 1861 – 9 June 1932) was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament.
Born on 2 August 1861 at Glengarry near Geraldton, Western Australia, Cowan was the second child of Kenneth Brown, pastoralist and son of early York settlers Thomas and Eliza Brown, and his first wife Mary Eliza Dircksey Wittenoom, a teacher and the daughter of the colonial chaplain, J. B. Wittenoom. Edith's mother died in childbirth in 1868 and she went to a Perth boarding school run by the Misses Cowan, 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. These experiences made her 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, she left her boarding school and moved to Guildford to live with her grandmother. There, she attended the school of Canon Sweeting, a former headmaster of 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 Brown with "a life-long conviction of the value of education, and an interest in books and reading".
She 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 where 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. The Karrakatta Club became involved in the campaign for women's suffrage, successfully gaining the vote for women in 1899.
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