Honouring Female Leaders in the City of

Recommended female leaders for representation in the Council Chamber, through portraits to be acquired into the Civic Collection

Catherine Helen Spence

Catherine Helen Spence (1825-1910), writer and reformer, was born in Scotland and migrated to South Australia in 1839. Responsible for the first novel about Australia written by a woman, Clara Morison: A Tale of South Australia During the Gold Fever (1854), she became a regular paid contributor to the South Australian Register, and her book The Laws We Live Under (1880) was the first social studies textbook used in Australian schools.

In 1872 Spence co-founded the Boarding-Out Society with Caroline Clark to foster orphaned and destitute children with families. She became Vice-President of the Women's Suffrage League of South Australia in 1891, then lectured extensively across Australasia, the United States, Britain and Switzerland. On her return to Adelaide, Spence formed the Effective Voting League of South Australia in 1895. Spence became Australia’s first female political candidate when she ran for the Federal Convention in 1897; coming a respectable twenty-second out of thirty-three candidates.

Mary Lee

Mary Lee (1821–1909) was a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement at the end of the 19th century, one of the first initiatives advancing gender equality. Devoting herself to advocating for legal changes in women’s sexual and social status, she was the foundation secretary of the Social Purity Society, which inaugurated the South Australian Women’s Suffrage League in 1888.

Through her work in the league, Lee played a vital role in the passing of the Constitution Amendment Act on 18 December 1894, making South Australia the second place in the world, after New Zealand, to legislate women’s rights to vote, and to stand for public office. In 2017 the City of Adelaide named Mary Lee Park (Park 27B) to honour this social reformer, and in 1994 unveiled a commemorative sculpture of Lee in Prince Henry Gardens, North Terrace, to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage in South Australia.

Dame Roma Mitchell AC, DBE, CVO, QC

Dame Roma Mitchell (1913-2000) was admitted as a barrister in 1935 and became Australia’s first female Queen’s Counsel on her appointment in 1962. Three years later she became a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first woman in Australia to hold that position. Again, when Mitchell became Chancellor of the in 1983 (serving until 1990), she was the first Australian woman to fulfil such a role.

As Governor of South Australia between 1991-1996, Mitchell was also the first female governor of an Australian state. A pioneer of the Australian women's rights movement, she advocated for women to have the right to sit on juries, and for equal pay for equal work for women. In 1996 the City of Adelaide awarded Dame Roma Mitchell the Key to the City, and in 1999 unveiled a commemorative sculpture of her in Prince Henry Gardens, North Terrace, to celebrate her achievements.

Ivarrityi

Ivarrityi was born in the 1840s in Port Adelaide to Tangkaira (Charlotte) and Ityamaiitpinna (‘King Rodney’). Her Kaurna name means a gentle, misty rain. Married twice, she was also known as Amelia Taylor and Amelia Savage, Princess Amelia, and Tuku Ngangki which translates as mother to many. A fluent Kaurna speaker, she was a principal female Kaurna informant, sharing her knowledge about Kaurna culture and language including placenames and important sites throughout Adelaide. Ivarrityi died in 1929 and is referred to as ‘the last woman of the Adelaide Tribe’.

In 2003 Whitmore Square was renamed Whitmore Square/Ivarrityi to honour this Kaurna woman, and to recognise its significance as a meeting place for Aboriginal peoples, particularly in the 1930s-1940s. The square is also named after William Wolryche Whitmore (1787–1858) who brought the South Australia Act 1834 before the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on behalf of the South Australian Association.

Wendy Chapman AM

Wendy Chapman (1942-) was the first female appointed Lord Mayor of Adelaide in 1983, making history as the first woman to hold the position in any Australian capital city. She completed one term, stepping down in 1985. Chapman also served the City of Adelaide as an Alderman between 1981-1983 and was a trained nurse and company director. She represented the City of Adelaide on the Adelaide Convention Bureau Board of Directors, the Local Government Association of South Australia and served on the Jubilee 150 Board.

As part of an alliance of state government, local government and big business, Chapman lobbied for Adelaide to secure the rights to host the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, which raced throughout the city between 1985-1995. She later served on the Australian Formula One Grand Prix Board. Chapman was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 1986 for service to local government and to the community.

Aunty Shirley Peisley AM

Shirley Peisley AM (1941-) was the first Co-Chair of the City of Adelaide Reconciliation Committee (2002- 2005), formed in 2002 with goals to advance reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples and the wider city community.

In the 1960s, Peisley was a member of the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia, which successfully lobbied for essential services for Aboriginal peoples. In the 1970's she was the first Aboriginal female Probation and Truancy Officer working with youth and the Children’s Court. Peisley received the Order of Australia Medal in 2000 for services to the Aboriginal Community in the areas of Culture, Heritage, Legal, Health, Welfare, Library Services, the Church, and Reconciliation.

In 2010 she received a Papal Blessing from Pope Benedict XVI for services to the Catholic Church. Peisley was a member of the Advisory Panel advocating for the recognition of Aboriginal peoples in South Australia’s Constitution; this historical reform was passed in March 2013.