Ellen Webster (14 October 1881 – 20 October 1965) was an Australian politician.

Life and career

Born in

Tenterfield Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tenterfield had a population of 4,066. Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to Irish immigrant parents (she was the sixth child of hawker Phillip Callachor and his wife Mary Fitzgerald), she was raised on the family property and educated at home. She later claimed to have studied medicine at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, but this was never proved. By 1920 she was living in Randwick, and she was married on 26 July 1921 to William Maule McDowell Webster at St Patrick's Catholic Church in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. After their marriage, the Websters moved to a farming property at Arcot near

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. From 1927 to 1929 she was a member of the Labor Party central executive, and was delegate to various country conferences. On 26 November 1931 she was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Jack Lang, joining

Catherine Green Catherine Elizabeth Green (1 August 1881 – 25 January 1965) was an Australian politician. Born in Curban, New South Wales, Curban in New South Wales to farmer Daniel Diggs and Catherine Kain, she was educated at the Curban public school ...

, appointed two days earlier, as the first women in the Council. She remained in the Council until 22 April 1934. After the death of her husband in 1958, Webster ran the family property until the 1960s, when she moved to

to live with her nephew. She died in 1965 and was buried in Randwick Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Ellen 1881 births 1965 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women politicians