Restoring Our Faith in the Past

BY LLOYD GORMAN

THE 2021 MARCH STATE ELECTION PRODUCED AN UNPRECEDENTED – EVEN HISTORIC – RESULT FOR THE LABOR GOVERNMENT OF MARK McGOWAN GOVERNMENT. NO WA PREMIER BEFORE HIM HAD BEEN HANDED SO MUCH CONTROL OVER BOTH HOUSES OF STATE PARLIAMENT.

But an important political anniversary for Western Australia and the suffragette cause went largely unnoticed, overshadowed by election fever. The eve of the March 13 poll quietly marked the 100th election anniversary of Edith Cowan to the state parliament, the first female MP in Australia and only the second in the British Empire, if you take an Irish technicality into account. The first woman ever elected to the Westminister parliament in London happened just three years earlier. Anglo-Irish woman Constance Markievicz won the Dublin seat of St. Patrick’s (one of four seats for the capital as a UK parliamentary division) in 1918. Markievicz, who took part in the 1916 Rising and stood as a Sinn Fein candidate, romped it in. But instead of taking her place in London (she was in prison at the time of her election), she took part in the revolutionary establishment of an Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann. Cowan’s election came close to never happening. Not long before the 1921 ballot, then attorney general Thomas Draper from the Nationalist Party changed the law to allow women to stand for parliament. This came 22 years after Australian women had won the right to be able to vote in elections. Cowan, then 59, ran against Draper for the seat of West Perth and just won by a razor thin margin of 46 votes. She lost her seat in the 1924 election but in

Top: Monument man Frank Smith. Photo: courtesy of POST Newspapers and photographer Paul McGovern. Above: The Edith Cowan memorial clock located at the entrance to Kings Park.

her one term as a parliamentarian she campaigned for women’s rights and pushed through legislation which gave women greater rights and opportunities, including the right to enter the male dominated legal profession. Her life was a shopping list of achievement and accomplishment against impossible odds. She died in Subiaco on June 9, 1932 aged 70 and her funeral service in West Perth drew huge crowds. She was buried at Karrakatta. On the second anniversary of her death, a memorial clock was unveiled and dedicated in her name at the Perth entrance to Kings Park. There were plenty who argued it shouldn’t be built. The Kings Park board for example, did not support it as they said only memorials of national significance were appropriate, but Perth City Council, which was building a small roundabout island in the road, supported the project. It is thought to be the first civic monument erected to an Australian woman. Recent years have not been kind to the 87 year old monument. For at least ten years the four clocks on each of its facades were either broken or displayed the wrong time. Decades of pollution from the increasingly busy roads around it also took their toll on the stonework and bronze fixtures. Work to restore the heritage listed landmark began in March, to mark the anniversary of her election, thanks in no small part to some residents prodding the authorities to look after it. The delicate job of fixing, repairing and restoring went to a Perth firm with Irish links and heritage expertise, Colgan Industries. In particular the task was largely carried out by Galway man Frank Smith. Scaffolding went up around the modest monument and came down again about two months later. “The clock faces have been fully restored and are now accurately telling the time,” a Perth council spokesperson said. “The repatination and rewax of the bronze profiles will be completed by Friday 28 May.” About two weeks earlier Colgan won a four month contract worth just over $76,000 to restore another three of the many monuments in Kings Park. The company has a lot of expertise in this kind of work. In fact, it – and Frank who is a stone mason by trade – have toiled over the park’s main memorial which dates back to 1929. In 2004/5 they completely dismantled and rebuilt the 18 metre granite obelisk and cenotaph of the State War Memorial so that badly needed conservation works and waterproofing to the crypt below it. For most of us it would be impossible to imagine taking apart such a massive and significant thing, but not Frank. There are landmarks across WA that have benefitted from his craftmanship (including the Beagle Bay ‘Mother of Pearl’ Mission Church) and countless fellow workers who have enjoyed working alongside an “artist” of his calibre. The stone plinth and path around the Irish Famine Memorial – An Gorta Mor – in Subiaco is his handiwork. Far left: Anglo Irish woman Constance Markievicz took part in the revolutionary establishment of an Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann Left: A young Edith Cowan

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Just a short walk away from the haunting Famine figure, the heritage listed 1935 built ticket gates for Subiaco Oval are just another example of the authentic efforts of Colgan, who were commissioned to restore them as part of the demolition and redevelopment of the former AFL stadium by the state government. One of the last big pieces in the completion of that project was the installation of original style turnstile gates. Subiaco man Dave Murray was the one who noticed the gates were missing (whereabouts unknown) and thanks to the efforts of the heritage sleuth, the council and other authorities combined forces to reinstate them, which happened in December of last year. The actual job of putting them where they belong was carried out by Irish born tradies Bill White (Offaly) and Michael McCormack (Galway), pictured here with a happy Mr Murray.

DONT FLAP ABOUT! GET YOUR WILL IN ORDER

15% OFF STANDARD WILL PRICING FOR ALL SENIORS

WILLS

ENDURING POWER OF ATTORNEY

ENDURING POWER OF GUARDIANSHIP

Protect yourself and your loved ones by ensuring that your Will is up to date and reflects your wishes.

ADVANCED HEALTH DIRECTIVES

Happy New Year to all our Senior Readers! Vibe Legal are happy to offer all Senior Card Holders 15% off our standard Will.

VIBE LEGAL Suite 6, 2 Hardy Street, South Perth WA 6151 admin@vibelegal.com.au vibelegal.com.au Contact our offices on (08) 6111 4890 for an obligation free discussion with our lawyers today