conference, landcare, conservation, community

A file previously held in the collection of the Supreme Court of Victoria and now in Public Record Office Victoria contains records of the annulment of the marriage of Florence Cox in 1919. As the earliest known record of a person with intersex variations in Victorian history, Cox’s story – and this record – are of unique historical significance to the LGBTIQ+ history of the State. Florence Cox (1887–1950) had a middle-class upbringing in Melbourne. In 1914 she travelled to Bengal to marry her fiancé Frank Paice and to join him in his missionary work for the Baptist church. The couple returned to Melbourne in 1918 and the following year the Supreme Court of Victoria, at Paice’s request, annulled their marriage. The Supreme Court file reveals that Paice declared he had been unable to consummate the marriage, due to ‘a malformation frigidity or other defect of the parts of generation’ of his wife. Both Paice and Cox were subject to medical examination, which established that Cox had what is recognised today as the intersex condition complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. The court determined that marital intercourse, as it was understood at the time, was impossible for Paice and Cox, and granted the request for an annulment. Paice remarried, fathered children and led a successful professional and civic life, serving a period as Mayor of Nunawading, in the middle- class eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Cox’s life was very different. It is unlikely that anyone in her life would have known what had prompted the end of the marriage, but gossip would certainly have focussed on her part in it. She never remarried and, although she remained connected to her family, her story was rarely discussed. Cox was admitted to Mont Park Mental Hospital in Melbourne’s northern suburbs in 1945, where she died five years later. The Supreme Court file preserves one of the most detailed medical descriptions of a person with intersex variations from that period. It is particularly striking that following the court case, the file was closed ‘forever’. This indicates how seriously the court took the case, and its determination to protect Cox and Paice from public scrutiny. It speaks loudly to the thinking of the time on a matter that was rarely, if ever, raised in public. In 1997, Cox’s great-nephew Ian Richardson set out to investigate the secrecy surrounding his great-aunt Florrie. Following a relentless, two-year campaign by Richardson and other descendants of Cox and Paice, the Supreme Court file was finally opened to the public. Richardson’s book, God’s Triangle, recounts his quest and brings Cox’s story out of the archives and into the light. Quoted from "A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria in 100 Places and Objects" by Graham Willett, Angela Bailey, Timothy W. Jones and Sarah Rood.

"E. Tyrell" written on each page, annotations in red ink. Marks on back pagee. tyrell, examination papers

olive mellor (nee holttum), edna walling, emily gibson, c.b. luffmann, olive pink, peter valdor, margaret hendry, alistair knox, david glen, tom garnett, kevin heinze, jean galbraith, , bill mollison, betty maloney, jean walker, george seddon, diana snape, joan law-smith, thomas shepherd, john turner, john stevens, william sangster, paul sorensen, ellis stones, margaret darling, sophie ducker, mervyn davis, jocely brown, beatrice bligh, grace fraser, peter cundall, gordon ford, fiona brockhoff, clive blazey, masters thesis, phd thesis

Director of Gardens M/s Claire Nailer nee Williams is asking for information about a Blue Gum dedicated to her Great Grandfather, Robert Williams. She is also asking whether a new plaque could be made also including her grandfather and father. This correspondence refers to the history of the Blue Gums in the Ballarat Botanic Gardens, the issue of dedication plaques missing and the lack of funds for replacements. Insight is also given into Philip Clingin's assiduous work. pp.1,3 & 4 are printed on City of Ballarat notepaper with City Logos and address in blue. p2 is a photocopied letter written in longhand.There is a note in longhand stapled to the right top corner of p.1.john garner, john garner collection, doctor, ballarat botanical gardens, curator, philip clingin, claire nailer nee williams, robert williams, major-general robert earnest williams, friends of ballarat botanical gardens, blue gums, williams family papers, weston bate, dedication plaques, director of gardens and parks, roy mosman, 1991, eucalyptus globulus, gardens, ballarat

maurie williams, tractor and implements, business, lifting mechanism, break link, patent papers and associated papers

Hard Copiescorrected, exam, papers, drs, bartlett, johnston, 1954, 1955, 1956, urology, ent, general, medicine