Women's Suffrage League

The Women's Suffrage League, founded in 1888, spearheaded the campaign for women's right to vote in South Australia.[1] In 1894 South Australia became the first Australian colony and the fourth place in the world to grant women's suffrage. At the same time women were granted the right to stand for election to Parliament, the first place in the world.

membership form for the Women's Suffrage League of South Australia

Social Purity Society
Social Purity Society

The Women's Suffrage League evolved from the Social Purity Society, an organisation that was concerned about the social and economic difficulties many women faced. The Society campaigned for fairer treatment of women by the law, and greater legal protection for young women. Thanks to the Society the age of consent for girls was raised to 16 and the age of young people in brothels was regulated.[1]

Members of the Society and similar movements of the period, notably temperance advocates including the W.C.T.U.,[2] realised that the key to affecting social change was parliamentary representation. This led the establishment of the Women's Suffrage League of South Australia with the view of initiating a movement for the enfranchisement of women.[3]

Key members

Those key to the suffrage movement in South Australia included:

The nature of society at the time meant that the role of men was vital for the success of the campaign for women's suffrage. Key men included:

Notable members

See also

References
  1. "Women and Politics in South Australia". Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  2. "Temperance Evangelists". The Express and Telegraph. XXIX (8, 574). South Australia. 24 June 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 11 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Women's Suffrage". SA Memory. State Library of South Australia. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  4. Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A. (1928). Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America. Los Angeles: Publishers Press. Retrieved August 6, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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