A Voice for Women and Children: The Story of Bessie Jordan

A very pretty wedding took place at the Presbyterian Church, Kalgoorlie, on Wednesday, when Mr Richard Michael Jordan, son of John Jordan, of Leona, Victoria, was married to Bessie Jones, only daughter of Mr James Jones, of the ‘Boulder’. The ceremony was performed by the Rev McQueen, in the presence of a large gathering of friends and relations of the young couple. As the party entered the church, the ‘Wedding March’ was played by Mrs Manderson. The bride, who was given away by her father, was attired in a handsome dress of white silk with pearl trimmings, lace and orange blossom, and the customary wreath and veil. She carried a beautiful shower bouquet, the gift of the bridegroom, and was attended by three bridesmaids, Miss Jane Williams and Misses Elsie and Maud Walter. The mother of the bride was attired in a silver grey silk lustre, trimmed with pnssenientre. pale green, and silver ribbons. Mrs Wallis was dressed in white silk, trimmed with chiffon and lace, with a hat to match.

Elizabeth Jane Anne Jones and Richard Michael Jordan on their wedding day 27 Oct 1897, Kalgoorlie, WA – Photo Ancestry.com

The bridegroom was attended by Mr B. Tripp, as best man. After the ceremony the party was driven to the Boulder Literary Societies Hall, where the guests, to the number of sixty, sat down to the wedding breakfast. The table was nicely decorated with flowers and evergreens, and showed to advantage a wedding cake four tiers high. After ample justice had been done to the good things provided, and the usual toasts incidental to such gatherings were gone through, the hall was cleared for dancing, which was kept up until an early hour, when the guests retired with hearty well-wishes for the future prosperity of the young couple.

OUR WOMEN JUSTICES
Mrs. Bessie Jordan

Mrs Jordan was born at Bendigo. Victoria, and came to Western Australia with her parents. The family arrived at Kalgoorlie with the first train 33 years ago. Mrs. Jordan was elected to the Children’s Court in 1915 and since then has been made Justice of the Peace for the Eastern Goldfields district She took up the work because she felt that it was essential for women to be on the bench where children were being tried, and she considers that no Children’s Court should function without at least one woman justice on the bench, especially where girls are brought, before the Court.
Mrs Jordan is also a keen advocate for the appointment of women on juries, especially for the more serious charges such as murder. She considers that when we have equal representation of both sexes on the bench, there will be less danger of arriving at wrong decisions. All Mrs Jordan’s other public activities are in the cause of women and children. She is secretary for the Kalgoorlie Benevolent Society, which distributes about £200 yearly in relief orders among the sick and needy of the district, besides blankets and clothing to those in distress. The funds for this work are obtained by a charity ball held every year. Mrs Jordan is also secretary for the boarded-out and State-aided children of the district and for the Child Welfare Department.

In addition, Mrs Jordan is secretary for the Kalgoorlie-Boulder branch of the National Council of Women, whose especial endeavour this year is the obtaining of hospital accommodation at Cook for the women and children on the Transcontinental line settlements, and a more up-to-date maternity hospital accommodation for the goldfields mothers. She is also an executive member of the newly-formed hospital welfare committee, whose duties are to visit and brighten the days of patients without friends, who are ill or convalescent.

POLITICAL VIEWS: Mrs Jordan says that her special brand of politics is National Labour. She is president of the local women’s branch of that party. Between elections. Mrs Jordan spends her spare time collecting and sending books to the Wooraloo Sanatorium. Mrs Jordan says that women are the home builders. Women also bear and rear the nation, and therefore are entitled to share in the making of the laws that govern it. Women should be represented in all State and Federal Parliaments, because only women can adequately place before members the needs of the women and children of the Commonwealth.