Robina Fordyce Cowper

Robina Fordyce Cowper (18 August 1866 – 3 August 1948) was an Australian women's rights activist, magistrate and temperance advocate.[1]

Robina Fordyce Cowper
Born
Robina Inglis

(1866-08-18)18 August 1866
Sandridge, Port Melbourne
Died3 August 1948(1948-08-03) (aged 81)
Parramatta
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Temperance activist, magistrate, church worker

Early life

Cowper was the eldest of twelve children born to Mary (née Fordyce) and John Inglis. She was educated at Clarendon College, Ballarat.[1] In 1884 she matriculated from the University of Melbourne in the Modern Languages class.[2]

Marriage

On 10 January 1891 she married Charles William Cowper. Her father officiated at the ceremony.[3] Robina and Charles had one daughter, Mary Inglis Cowper (known as May) who was born in 1892 and died aged 3 years and 8 months, in 1895.[4]

Activism

Cowper campaigned for more women in the police force, and for the inclusion of women in church leadership.[5]

Cowper was an active member of the Collins Street Independent Church and was the first woman on the executive of the Congregational Union committee. She was also a founding member of executive of the Congregational Women's Association.[6]

In 1928, Cowper was appointed as a special magistrate of the Children's Court, Melbourne.[6]

References

  1. Head, Alison, "Cowper, Robina Fordyce (1866-1948)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 March 2021
  2. "THE UNIVERSITY". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 17 January 1885. p. 43. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. "Family Notices". Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954). 10 January 1891. p. 11. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  4. "Family Notices". Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946). 9 November 1895. p. 45. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  5. Victorian Women's Trust. "Women in the Life of the City" (PDF).
  6. Melbourne, National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. "Cowper, Robina Fordyce - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
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