(1861–1932)
2 August 1861
was born Glengarry near Geraldton, Western Australia
1868
Edith's mother died in her childbirth, she went to a Perth boarding school run by the Misses Cowan,
sisters of her future husband
1876
Edith's adolescence was shattered by the ordeal of her father's trials and hanging for the murder, that year, of his second wife
12 November 1879
In St George's Cathedral Edith married James Cowan, registrar and master of the Supreme Court.
1890
James Cowan's appointment as Perth police magistrate gave them permanent social and economic security and gave Edith's an insight into the wider society's social problems.
1880 and 1891
Edith and her husband had four daughters and a son
1890s
Edith Cowan became involved in voluntary organizations
1894
Edith was the Karrakatta Women's Club's first secretary
1891-1894
Edith worked with the Ministering Children's League (from 1891) and the House of Mercy for unmarried mothers (Alexandra Home for Women) from 1894
1903-1912
Cowan went overseas to Britain and Europe, and in 1925 to the United States of America as an Australian delegate to the sixth convention of the International Council
1909
Cowan was an initiator of the Women's Service Guild
1911
She was prominent in the creation of the Western Australian National Council of Women
1915
Edith was among the first women appointed to its bench
1916
She was secretary of the new hospital's advisory board, She was a foundation member of Co-Freemasonry in her State
1917
was vice-president to when she resigned
1920
Edith also an early woman justice of the peace, she constantly urged the appointment of women to such positions. During World War I, already heavily engaged in social welfare, she took on a wide range of war work for which she was appointed O.B.E.
1921
Cowan was one of five women candidates
1923
The Women's Legal Status Act, which she introduced, as a private member, opened the legal profession to women.
1925
to the United States of America as an Australian delegate to the sixth convention of the International Council
1926
Cowan was a founder of the (Royal) Western Australian Historical Society , and contributed to its journal—her daughter Dircksey was its first keeper of records
1932
She died , and was buried in the Anglican section of Karrakatta cemetery
