07/03/2025
This International Women’s Day we wish to acknowledge our forebearer, Ruth Alsop (born in Kew in 1879). The first Victorian woman to qualify as an architect in 1912.
Ruth began work at her younger brother Rodney’s firm, Klingender & Alsop from 1907 until 1916. At this time, family pressures saw her leave the firm to look after her parents, who were both in poor health.
Ruth Alsop remained registered as an architect with the RVIA until 1927, but there is little evidence of any her designs being built during this time.
Rodney Alsop gained considerable prominence as a designer of Arts and Craft style dwellings - for Ruth, however, there was little acclaim. She designed the modest weatherboard house in Dorset Road, Croydon, where she lived with her sisters, Edith and Florance. The architect, the artist and the writer lived there together from the late 1930s until the 1950s.
Ruth Alsop lived until 1976, with her groundbreaking role in architecture largely overlooked. In 2005 a Canberra street was named after her (Ruth Alsop Lane, Greenway, ACT 2900) to commemorate her achievements.
As a woman, family and domestic duties were seen to come first and her career fell away. As such, the contrast between Rodney and Ruth’s career paths is significant.
How grateful we are for the changes to the profession that we know today, and we honour the women who have paved the way before us.
