Box 09: Fry family papers of Edith Fry, 1881 - 1940

MLMSS 1159 ADD-ON 2076/Box 9

file

1881 - 1940

129882

Edith Ada Fry was born in England in 1858, the eighth child of James Kight and Amelia Fry and the youngest sister of Arthur Fry. When the family came to Sydney in the early 1870s they lived at "Sunnyholt", Blacktown; after her father's death in 1896 Edith moved with her mother and sister Katie to "Headingley" in Coogee and later to the North Shore. Edith was prominent in the early days of the women's movement in NSW; in the early 1890s she joined the 'Womanhood Suffrage League of NSW', was a member of its council and later honorary treasurer. It was during this time that she met Rose Scott, who became a close friend. A founding member in 1896 of the 'National Council of Women of NSW', she held various offices and was later appointed Honorary Life Vice-President. She was one of the Council's delegates at the Quinquennial Meeting of the International Council of Women held in Rome in 1913. She was also a founding member of the 'Women's Club' in 1901, served on the Executive in its formative years and was made an Hon. Life Member. Edith Fry died in Sydney in 1940.

1881 - 1940; Correspondence, including letters from : R.Wilson (1881); brother Arthur Fry (1886); Marie L.Farquharson, state secretary of the National Council of Women of NSW (1928); brother Walter Fry (1936); with letters (2) from Edith to Walter Fry (1936); copy of letter to the editor, Sydney Morning Herald, from Walter Fry with an obituary for Edith (1940). (Call No.: ML MSS 1159, ADD-ON 2076/BOX 9)
1912 - 1940; Miscellaneous papers, including : address from the Women's Club (1909); newscuttings re Edith Fry and the NCW of NSW (1912-1927); 'An Appreciation' by Mrs Mildred Musico, published in the NCW of NSW Biennial Reports for 1938 -1940. (Call No.: ML MSS 1159, ADD-ON 2076/BOX 9)