Catherine Winifred "Kate" Dwyer (; 13 June 1861 – 3 February 1949) was an Australian educator, suffragist, and labour activist.

Life

Dwyer née Golding was born at Tambaroora, Wellington County, New South Wales to Joseph Golding (died 1890), a gold-miner from

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, Ireland, and his Scottish wife, Ann (died 1906; née Fraser). She was educated at Hill End Public School. In 1880 she began teaching at Tambaroora Public School, she taught at numerous public primary school in New South Wales until she married fellow school teacher Michael Dwyer in 1887. From 1894 they lived in Sydney where Kate became a member of the

Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales ] The Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales, was founded in 1891 and campaigned for women's right to vote in New South Wales. Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Origins Mary Windeyer and Rose Scott, among others, ...

, her sisters, Annie Mackenzie Golding, Annie and Belle were also members. She was a founder of the Women's Progressive Association in 1901, the organisation promoted the entry of women into legal professions and equal benefits for women following divorce. Interested in women's working conditions she also founded the Women Workers' Union for home and fringe factory workers. She was active in the "no

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

" during World War I. In 1916 Dwyer was the first woman in Australia to be elected a member of the Senate of 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 ...

. In that capacity in 1918 she moved a resolution to support the introduction of legislation for women to enter the legal profession. In May 1921 she was one of the first 61 women to be appointed justices of the peace in New South Wales. Dwyer died on 3 February 1949 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Legacy

Dwyer Street in

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, a suburb of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, is named in her honour.

References

Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Kate 1861 births 1949 deaths Australian suffragists Australian educators People from New South Wales Australian people of Irish descent Australian people of Scottish descent 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women

Life

Legacy

See also

References