Amateur artist, was born in Perth eldest of five daughters of Edith, noted feminist and the first woman parliamentarian in Australia, and James Cowan her husband.
She gained a government exhibition in 1897 and following extra tuition in 1899 a matriculation to the University of Melbourne. The costs of studying so far away were prohibitive and Cowan stayed in Perth taking a job in the Public Service in the Supreme Court (in an office in the Treasury Building until 1945) where she spent her working life.
She exhibited paintings of Western Australian wildflowers in the Western Australian court of the 1900 'Paris Exposition’ and at the 'Glasgow International Exhibition’ in 1902. Cowan was a founding member of the of the Western Australian Historical Society in 1926 and Honorary Assistant Secretary, Honorary Life Member and the first 'Keeper of the Records’ from 1930 which for a time were stored in the Treasury building.
She was deeply interested in Western Australian history and in the welfare of Aborigines. Cowan lived with her parents in Perth then at 'Bleak House’ in Avonmore Terrace, Cottesloe, Western Australia from 1896 to around 1914 before returning to Perth. The area was rich in wildflowers which she painted and exhibited in Paris and London. Several of Cowan’s paintings are in the collection of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. In 1933 she lived with her father at 71 Malcolm Street, Perth. Cowan’s mother died the previous year.
- Writers:
- Dr Dorothy Erickson
- Date written:
- 2010
- Last updated:
- 2011
