Edith and James Cowan on their golden wedding anniversary, 14 November 1929

At the age of 18, Edith Brown married James Cowan who later became a magistrate. The couple settled in the inner-city suburb of West Perth and had four daughters and a son. On 12 March 1921, Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to an Australian parliament. She won the seat of West Perth, becoming a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.