Catherine Elizabeth Green (1 August 1881 – 25 January 1965) was an Australian politician. Born in Curban in

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 farmer Daniel Diggs and Catherine Kain, she was educated at the Curban public school until the family moved to

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Go ...

when Catherine was fourteen. She was a domestic in a hotel before moving to

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 Mounta ...

around 1898. On 1 February 1904 she married William John "Billy" Russell, a plumber, with whom she had a daughter and three sons. Her sons,

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

went on to become notable

cartoonists A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

. She also joined the Labor Party around this time. On 24 July 1926 she married her second husband, stonemason Sydney Temple Green. That year she also became a member of the Labor Party's central executive, having risen through the South Sydney and Bankstown organising committees and the East Sydney branch. On 24 November 1931 she became the first woman to serve in 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 t ...

when she was appointed by

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 (she was joined two days later by

Ellen Webster Ellen Webster (14 October 1881 – 20 October 1965) was an Australian politician. Life and career Born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Tenterfield in New South Wales to Irish immigrant parents (she was the sixth child of hawker Phillip Ca ...

). She served until 7 September 1932. A

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, Green died in 1965 and was buried at

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating ...

References

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 20th-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Labor-NewSouthWales-MP-stub