About Grace Emily Munro
Grace Emily Munro (1879-1964) was a co-founder and the first president of the Country Women’s Association of Australia (CWA). She experienced first-hand the isolation and lack of services faced by many regional Australian women while living on a property in the Gwydir Shire in New South Wales’ New England region. This inspired Grace to devote her life to improving regional women’s lives - she was a generous and enthusiastic leader of the CWA, campaigning tirelessly for much-needed resources and raising funds for countless women’s restrooms and hospital facilities across the state.
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Early compassion
Grace Emily Munro (née Gordon) was born at Gragin near Warialda in northern New South Wales. In 1898 she married grazier Hugh Munro (1862-1958) and they lived at ‘Keera’, near Bingara, and had four children together.
Prior to the First World War, Grace travelled widely in the Pacific, Egypt and Europe, returning to Sydney as war broke out. During the War she lived in Sydney, where she was active in the Red Cross Society, assisting with her own car and driver to carry supplies to army training camps. Grace became qualified in first aid and home nursing through the St John Ambulance Association, providing first aid classes after the War at ‘Keera’ (near her birthplace of Gwydir ). During the Great Strike of 1917 – one of Australia’s largest industrial conflicts – she helped provide facilities, including a post office, for country volunteers in Sydney.
Challenges for regional women
At this time, country women across Australia suffered from isolation and lack of medical care, especially for their children. Grace had experienced this first-hand in 1911, when her youngest son died while she was in Sydney seeking medical treatment for another child.
Inspired by the Women’s Institutes in Canada and Britain, journalist Florence Gordon proposed a Bushwomen's Conference to be held in association with the Sydney Royal Agricultural Show in April 1922. The gathering, published in the Stock and Station Journal, aimed to address the issues faced by regional women and devising potential solutions. The idea appealed to numerous women who had been active in volunteer activities during World War I.
The inception of the CWA
Grace read the proposal and came to Sydney to assist. She brought energy, an authoratative personality, organisational experience, wealth and political influence. The Munro family were rural gentry and supporters of the Country Party, friends of its leader Dr Earl Page and actively involved in conservative political groups. Grace assisted in organising the conference and arranged newspaper coverage.
The Sydney conference ran for three days and attracted many ordinary country women. Grace proposed the name ‘Country Women’s Association’ and developed its draft constitution and organisational structure. It was agreed that the new organisation was to be non-political and non-sectarian, with the primary aim of improving conditions for women on the land.
The provisional committee was elected with Grace as president; and, Mrs M Sawyer (Cootamundra), Mrs S Laver (Crookwell) and Mrs AJ Studdy (Boggabri) as vice presidents. Three months later Grace was confirmed as president, a role in which she served for two years. She was a strong, active president and the organisation grew spectacularly. In its first year, 68 branches were formed, the first at Crookwell and the second at Bingara, with 17 restrooms established in country towns, providing much-needed facilities for women and children.
Driving change
Grace travelled widely throughout New South Wales and Queensland supporting the formation of rural branches. She personally lobbied the premier and government ministers for assistance for women, including land for holiday homes, improved postal services and railway concession fares, and refreshment rooms. The CWA purchased its first holiday home in 1924 and named it ‘Keera’ after Grace's homestead at Bingara. It was used as a seaside holiday house for country women and their children from 1924–55.
Grace’s legacy
By the time Grace retired in 1926 due to ill health, the CWA had 4,500 members in 100 branches. She continued to raise funds for rural causes and was named foundation president in 1933 and received an MBE in June 1935 in recognition of her role in the CWA. Grace died in Sydney in July 1965. She is remembered for her tireless efforts to improve the social, economic, and health outcomes of regional women in New South Wales and elsewhere.
References and further reading
Helen Townsend, Serving the County. The history of the Country Women's Association of New South Wales. (Doubleday, Sydney, 1988)
“Country Women’s Associations”, The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth Century Australia. https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0381b.htm
Elizabeth Kenworthy Teather, ‘The Country Women’s Association of New South Wales in the 1920s and 1930s as a Counter Revolutionary Organisation’, Journal of Australian Studies, No 41, June 1994, pp.67-78.