A new feature has been added to the Shoalhaven's growing mural trail.
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And this one has a distinctive focus on local history.
Nowra's CWA branch celebrates its centenary in 2024, and marked the occasion by unveiling a mural featuring an image of the first branch president - Sarah Emily Morton.
![Woollamia artist Clayton Campion with the mural he painted outside the Nowra CWA rooms in Berry Street. Picture by Glenn Ellard. Woollamia artist Clayton Campion with the mural he painted outside the Nowra CWA rooms in Berry Street. Picture by Glenn Ellard.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204165774/96f3e2d2-5271-4c05-9a43-e9526c51a3a5.JPG/r0_173_3888_2368_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Woollamia artist Clayton Campion created the mural, based on a design by his partner Kellie Hooper.
He said he kept Mrs Morton's image black and white because it "explains that it is historic".
The mural also features a black cockatoo to depict Nowra, golden wattle and an intricate design to symbolise an doily, based on an uncirculated $1 coin created by the Royal Australian Mint in 2022 to mark the 100th anniversary of the CWA in Australia.
It was only two years later that Mrs Morton held the first meeting to create a CWA branch in Nowra, with 22 women attending that meeting.
Mrs Morton was elected branch president, and remained in the role until her death in 1935 after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
The gathering was told she had been born Emily Fuller in 1873, as part of a prominent Kiama family, and married Scottish doctor Thomas Primrose Anderson in 1894.
![Bruce Morton talks about his great-aunt Emily Morton ahead of a new mural being unveiled in Nowra. Picture by Glenn Ellard. Bruce Morton talks about his great-aunt Emily Morton ahead of a new mural being unveiled in Nowra. Picture by Glenn Ellard.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204165774/e29e1f35-adb5-4ae8-8525-b10089075447.JPG/r0_199_3888_2394_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He died just four years later from consumption, but their two storey home and medical practice in Shoalhaven Street, Kiama, is still standing.
Then in 1919 she married the MLA for Wollondilly, Mark Morton, a widower who had been married to Emily's sister Minnie.
Mrs Morton became a key figure in Nowra, and was heavily involved in the CWA on a local and state level.
Under her guidance the Nowra branch bought a block of land in Berry Street for 400 pounds, and had a one-room building constructed, complete with verandah and toilets, at a cost of 85 pounds.
At its opening Mrs Morton said the building was to be used by the district's woman as a place of rest.
In 1934 a baby health clinic nurse was employed at the rooms, and the service continued for 63 years.
![Nowra CWA branch president Jan Colnan and NSW State President Joy Beames with a miniature of the mural celebrating the Nowra CWA's centenary. Picture by Glenn Ellard. Nowra CWA branch president Jan Colnan and NSW State President Joy Beames with a miniature of the mural celebrating the Nowra CWA's centenary. Picture by Glenn Ellard.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204165774/8d051899-dfd0-493e-bac4-6a78fa00041c.JPG/r0_43_3888_2238_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mrs Morton's great-nephew Bruce Morton said while he never met his great aunt, and she died before he was born, he grew up being told she was "a very industrious person and a good citizen".
He said the mural was "a very good likeness".
CWA state president Joy Beames praised the mural, saying it was the first she had seen from any branch celebrating its centenary.
"It is amazing, and something so different, so you should all be very proud of the fact that you've got this amazing recognition of CWA on the wall in Nowra," Mr Beames said.
It was one on many murals created in the Shoalhaven by Mr Campion, described during the function as "a world-renowned artist" who had created several wall and ceiling murals in Ukraine.
Around the Shoalhaven he had also painted murals at places including Moona Moona Creek in Huskisson, the Shoalhaven Heads Men's Shed, Vincentia High School, the Nowra Farmers Market and Kinghorne Motors.