# Edna Roper

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{{Short description|Australian politician (1913-1986)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
thumb|Edna Roper c1953
'''Edna Sirius Roper''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OBE}}  ({{nee|Lorence}}; 21 July 1913 – 8 October 1986) was an Australian politician.

She was born in [Alberton, South Australia](/source/Alberton%2C_South_Australia), to [sea captain](/source/sea_captain) Martin Lorence and Hilda Rose, ''née'' Arnold. She attended St Paul's Church of England School in [Port Adelaide](/source/Port_Adelaide) before working in her father's business. After moving to [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)), she held various jobs including waitress, copyholder, shop assistant and jewellery maker. On 2 April 1932 she married Gilbert Roper, a [linotype](/source/linotype_(alloy)) operator. In 1941, now living in [Sydney](/source/Sydney), she joined the [Labor Party](/source/Australian_Labor_Party_(New_South_Wales_Branch)) and served as honorary secretary of the NSW Labor Women's Central Organising Committee (1949&ndash;57); she was also active in the [East Sydney](/source/Division_of_East_Sydney) federal electorate council and was a member of the party's central executive from 1952 to 1958. In 1953 she was the first woman to be appointed to the board of [Royal Prince Alfred Hospital](/source/Royal_Prince_Alfred_Hospital)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18367536 |title=First Woman appointed to R.P.A. board |date=1953-06-23 |work=[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald) |access-date=2018-10-15 |pages=11 |via=Trove}}</ref> and in 1961 of the [Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital](/source/Queen_Victoria_Memorial_Hospital).<ref name=nsw>{{cite NSW Parliament |title=Mrs Edna Sirius Roper (1913–1986) |id=1733 |former=Yes |accessdate=7 May 2019}}</ref>

In 1958, Roper was elected to the [New South Wales Legislative Council](/source/New_South_Wales_Legislative_Council). She was the only female member of the council until 1959, when she was joined by [Anne Press](/source/Anne_Press). She continued to be active in the community and especially in nursing, serving as a councillor of the Bush Nursing Association from 1961 to 1970 and on the committee of the [St John's Ambulance](/source/St_John's_Ambulance) Association in 1971. From 1973 to 1978 she was the Labor Party's deputy leader in the upper house. With the introduction of a directly elected council in 1978, Roper was one of many MLCs who retired. She died in 1986 at [Leura](/source/Leura%2C_New_South_Wales).<ref name=nsw/>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roper, Edna}}
Category:1913 births
Category:1986 deaths
Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Category:20th-century Australian politicians
Category:Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:20th-century Australian women politicians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edna Roper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_Roper) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_Roper?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.