Isabel Longworth
Isabel Frances Longworth was an Australian dentist and peace activist born on 1 June 1881 in Temora, New South Wales. Born Isabel Swann, she was the daughter of William Swann and Elizabeth Devlin. She became a registered dentist in 1902 and practiced in Parramatta, later moving to Liverpool Street. Raised in a pacifist family, she treated well-known patients and joined the Australian Freedom League in 1912, becoming a strong anti-conscription campaigner. She disagreed with some pacifists who she felt supported war in the name of defence.
In the late 1910s, she spoke at Socialist Sunday Schools and campaigned on issues such as opposing flag salutes in schools and supporting prison reform. She helped end indentured labour in Fiji and hid New Guinean people in Sydney to protect them. She represented the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom at the Australian Peace Alliance conference in 1921.
On 23 August 1924 she married William Longworth, a grinder, and they had one daughter, Isabel Jean. The family moved to Wyong in 1932 and then to Newcastle in 1936. She helped organise a peace conference with the Christian Socialist Movement, spoke against fascism, and supported the Soviet Union. She ran for Parliament as an Independent Scientific Socialist in Newcastle in 1946 and Shortland in 1949, though she was not elected.
She was recognised as Australia’s longest-practising dentist. Isabel Longworth died on 13 January 1961 in Newcastle and was cremated in Congregational rites.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:20 (CET).