Our History
A distinguished past that continues to inspire, with Edith Dircksey Cowan OBE a founding member
The Karrakatta Club, founded in 1894 by members of the St George Reading Circle, was formed for the purpose of exchanging and discussing reading material and debating current affairs.
Created from a desire to educate and inform women at a time when women experienced great social constraints, the Club was founded on the view that anything that educated and enabled women also tended to strengthen men and the community. It is difficult today to appreciate the restricted life of women in Western Australia at that time, yet the aim of the Club continues, bringing women together in friendship to foster enjoyment, shared interests, and a sense of social awareness.
A part of Western Australia’s rich fabric since 1894
Other Club Founders included an Executive comprised of President, Mrs, (later Lady) Onslow; Vice President, Mrs Hensman; Treasurer, Miss Helen Ferguson; Record Secretary, Mrs J Cowan; Correspondence Secretary, Miss Amy Best. (Note that married women were known by their husband’s name.
Mrs J. Cowan was Edith Dircksey Cowan. Miss Jane Nisbet proposed that the Club be called the Karrakatta Club, adopting the Whadjuk Noongar name for the area near to what is now Kings Park. Please click through to see the history brochure of the Karrakatta Club.
