Leonora Ethel Polkinghorne (née Twiss) (1873 – 11 May 1953) was an Australian women's activist and writer.

Biography

Polkinghorne was born in Ballarat,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, but subsequently moved to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

as a child. She was a teacher before her marriage, teaching mathematics and French at the Christ Church Day School in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

and later becoming co-principal. She became involved in politics around 1909, when she became a founding member of the Women's Non-Party Association of South Australia (later the League of Women Voters) and honorary treasurer of the short-lived Registered Governesses Association. She married Oswald Polkinghorne in December 1910. They had five children. She served as president of the South Australian division of the Housewives' Association in 1928–29. She was also a vice-president and executive member of the Women's Non-Party Association for a period in the late 1920s and early 1930s, taking over as president from 1938 to 1940. She unsuccessfully contested the 1930 state election as an independent candidate aligned with the Women's Non-Party Association. Her platform consisted of proportional representation, more support for maternal and child welfare, early closing of hotels on Saturdays, "proper control of the feeble-minded", decentralisation, changes to taxation, and "economy of administration in government service". She was touted as an independent candidate for the 1938 election, but did not nominate. During World War II, Polkinghorne, by then a "noted pacifist", spoke out against conscription during that war and dismissed the value of widespread school fundraising to support the war effort. She wrote several novels as "Cecil Warren", some in collaboration with Kate Margaret Stone ("Sydney Partrige"), not all of which were published, and contributed poetry and prose to several early twentieth century literary magazines. She died on 11 May 1953 in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

whilst on board the liner en route to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, where she had been due to represent the state branch of the

Union of Australian Women The Union of Australian Women (UAW) is a left-wing women's organisation concerned with local and international issues regarding women's rights, international peace and equality. The UAW was established in Sydney on 31 July 1950 in New South Wal ...

at the Women's World Congress. She was buried in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Sri Lanka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polkinghorne, Leonora 1873 births 1953 deaths Australian women activists Australian women writers Australian writers People who died at sea People from Ballarat