Millicent Preston Stanley Vaughan

Millicent Preston Stanley Vaughan (1883–1955), politician and feminist, was the first woman elected to Parliament in New South Wales in 1925. As the member for Eastern Suburbs, Preston Stanley campaigned on issues such as mortality in childbirth, child welfare, care for the intellectually disabled and Health Act amendments, and introduced to Parliament a private bill calling for equal custody rights for women (eventually granted in 1934). Though unsuccessful in her bid for re-election in 1927, Preston Stanley maintained her campaign for custody rights, penning a play, Whose Child?, which was produced in Sydney in 1932. She worked for the Daily Telegraph in 1926 and 1927 as editor of its women's supplement. After marrying former South Australian premier, Crawford Vaughan, she continued organising against socialism and communism; and served on the councils of the National and United Australia parties between 1930 and 1942. During the Second World War, Preston Stanley was director of the Women's Australian National Service. President of the Feminist Club from 1919 to 1934, she was president again from 1952 until her death in 1955.

Photographer Noel Rubie took this studio portrait of Preston Stanley wearing one of her distinctive hats. She wore a similar hat while giving her first speech in Parliament on 25 August 1925.

Gift of Judi Preston-Stanley 2013