Geelong Artist: Helen Peters (1866 - 1923)

Helen A. Peters (1866-1923) Australia
Helen Peters was born in Geelong, Victoria in 1866 and she dies in 1923. She recieved her matriculation in 1883 from Flinders School.

She studied art in Geelong under Edmund Sasse, and later in Melbourne under Bernard Hall, Tudor St George Tucker and Emanuel Phillips Fox.

She was a painter and art teacher who worked from her private home in Elizabeth St, Geelong. Helen exhibited mostly with the Victorian Artists' Society and the Yarra Sculptors' Society from 1895. Helen Peters was an active member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors. She has work in the Royal Academy in London.


She recieved coverage in the newspapers of the day for her work.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Saturday 18 January 1902 p 14, reported: "The local art gallery lias received another addition, in the shape of a picture, entitled, "The Toilers," from the brush of Miss Helen Peters."


The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Thursday 8 November 1906, p. 5 about  her piece in the 9th Federal Art Exhibition:

"The End of the Way," by Helen Peters; also a Victorian artist, shows a swagiuan descending the hill of life and nearing the waters winch, indicate the end of the journey. The conception is good, and the execution is not without merit. The follow- ing lines are attached to the frame: "Why don't I grow rich as I know I grow old? Because with. Billy in hand and my swag on mybick, I wander away on the Wallaby Track."

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 24 August 1912, p. 13 about her contribution to the Royal Art Society (New South  Wales) Spring Exhibition:

 

"Helen A. Peters, an artist of genuine talent, In "Our Baby" (No. 51) appears to be still showing her art through the weird kind of twilight she brought with her from Paris years ago. Everything ss obscured and confused by this method; and we do not profess to understand its object." 

"According to the Geelong Advertiser's reviewer of her retrospective exhibition at the Gordon Technical College in 1903, she was 'probably better known in the art centres of Melbourne and Sydney than she is in Geelong'. She showed almost sixty paintings in her exhibition, with sentimental figure groups and portraits dominating. The Advertiser reported that Frederick McCubbin had sent a letter to mark the opening, which stated that 'Geelong should be proud of Miss Peters' work when it was considered that she was one of the foremost lady artists in Australia. He concluded by congratulating her upon her industry and position in the art world.'" (From: http://daaouat.library.unsw.edu.au:81/main/read/5062)

 

First female lawyer practices in Geelong: 1974

In 1974 Margaret Fargie is one of the first females to practice law in Geelong. She became a partner in the law firm Wightons & Macdonald as it was known then and became one of the first women in Victoria to chair a building society (The Barwon Permanent Building Society) despite disabilities associated with her contracting polio-myelitis at 7 years of age.

She matriculated in 1948 and had been Dux of the senior class at Morongo College Geelong. She graduated with a law degree from Melbourne University in 1952.

 Source: http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/geelonglawyers/fargie/mf17a.html

Link here to a portrait of Margaret Fargie: http://www.deakin.edu.au/alfreddeakin/spc/manuscript-collections/geelonglawyers/fargie/mf14.php

Henrietta Dugdale and women's suffrage

1880s. The Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society founded in 1884 was the first women’s suffrage society in Australia. A key woman in its formation was Henrietta Dugdale (1827 – 1918) who lived in Queenscliff from July of 1853 possibly until the late 1860, moved to Melbourne but died & is buried in Point Lonsdale & Annie Lowe from Melbourne. Henrietta became its president. She also founded the YWCA in Geelong. A letter she wrote endorsing the franchise of women was published in The Argus, & this was the first occasion that an Australian woman discussed suffrage in a public forum. She wrote A Few Hours in a Far Off Age, published in 1883. Henrietta made all of her own clothes, grew her own vegetables & was adept in carpentry. She was also an excellent chess player.

The aim of the Victorian Women’s Suffrage Society was to obtain the same political privileges for women as now possessed by male voters, with the restriction of an educational test by writing legibly the name of the candidate on the ballot paper. By July 1886 membership of the VWSS had reached 257. A major proposal was to work towards the introduction of a women's suffrage bill annually into Parliament until successful.

Henrietta was first involved in women’s rights, from 1869, when she was a pioneer of the Woman’s Movement in Victoria . In 1884 she was president of the first Victorian Woman’s Suffrage Society. She was also a member of the Victorian group of radical, free thinking women who believed in temperance, birth control, & “applying the surgeons knife to rapists”. Henrietta believed that only through the use of reason, & equality of the sexes, could mankind accomplish perfection.

Priscilla Zillah Crawcour

Priscilla (Zillah) Crawcour first woman to become a mayor in Australia.

Priscilla (Zillah) Crawcour had strong connections to the Former Jewish synagogue in Geelong (South-east corner of Yarra & McKillop Streets) & has played a huge role in the Geelong community. Zillah was the first woman to become a mayor in Australia & also served as a councillor for the City of Newtown from 1957 until 1975. Zillah founded the Australian Local Government Women’s Association. She was awarded an Order of the British Empire for her contribution to the community. A park adjacent to the Queens Park Bridge was named after Zillah.

Elizabeth Austin

1890s. Elizabeth Austin was a mother of 11, pastoralist & philanthropist who established the first welfare accommodation for older, poor women in Geelong in the 1890s. She paid for the construction of 12 cottages in Geelong on land granted by the Victorian Government. The Austin cottages still stand in South Geelong & their foundation stone reads ‘To the glory of God, & for the benefit of the poor of Geelong in perpetuity’. The first residents of the Austin Cottages lived rent-free & were given 2/6 pence per week for living expenses. The processes she set in place preceded by some years the provision of Government sponsored pensions.

In 2001 St Laurence Services Inc. was appointed as Trustee for the Austin Cottages continuing their original function envisaged by Elizabeth as endowed homes for impoverished females. Elizabeth also founded the Austin Hospital (originally called the Hospital for Incurables). In her latter life Elizabeth, distributed nearly her entire accumulation of wealth to benefit women, in particular those of limited means.

2010 - the 100th Anniversary of her death & the National Trust (Vic) hosted a special exhibition of her life to commemorate this anniversary.

Geelong and Western District Ladies Benevolent Association

1855: The Geelong & Western District Ladies Benevolent Association a non-sectarian philanthropic organisation, was formed to provide emergency relief to the poor, in particular to women, & homes for ‘aged helpless females’. The inaugural President was Miss Caroline Newcomb of Coryule. They raised money through grants, subscription fees & donations. The Society ran a free kindergarten in Yarra Street for nearly 100 years, & Upton House in Queenscliff, to provide holidays for women. The demands on their services rose & fell with economic circumstances such as the collapse of the land boom & government provided social welfare. The Association is still in existence, providing assistance during illness & other misfortunes.