National Council of Women of Victoria

Last updated

National Council of Women of Victoria
Established1902;123 years ago (1902)
Location
Founding presidents
Janet Clarke
Parent organisation
Website www.ncwvic.org.au

The National Council of Women of Victoria (NCWVIC) was founded in Victoria, Australia, in 1902 with Janet Clarke as the founding president. The organisation is a branch of the National Council of Women of Australia, and the International Council of Women. It is an umbrella group for a number of associated member organisations and aims to progress women's issues and women's rights in the state of Victoria.

Contents

Background

The International Council of Women (ICW) was the idea of American women's rights activists Susan B Anthony, and May Wright Sewell formed at a women's suffrage conference that Anthony organised in 1888 in Washington DC on the fortieth anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. The 'council idea', as they referred to it, would be an international umbrella organisation which would go beyond just political rights of women, with a focus on broader women's interests. The council would bring together women's organisations on national and international levels to connect and learn from each other to promote peace and general wellbeing. [1]

Sewell stated there were five key objectives:

She further stated that the council would be a forum "where all the great questions that concern humanity shall be discussed from the woman's point of view" and that it would all the shedding of class and ethic boundaries through fostering human harmony and spiritual one-ness. [1]

The first National Council of Women formed in Australia started in New South Wales (NSW) on 26 June 1896, when Margaret Windeyer called together NSW women's groups to form a council. Windeyer had represented NSW women on the council of the World's Congress of Representative Women in Chicago in 1893, which Sewell was instrumental in organising. It was the largest gathering of women from many different countries to have happened at that time. Speeches were given by 300 women from 27 countries, and they discussed the formation and structure of the ICW. [1]

Formation

On 19 March 1902, Janet Clarke called the inaugural meeting of representatives of 35 voluntary society at the Austral Salon. Clarke presided over the meeting. Emily Dobson, from Tasmania, was primary speaker as she had recently attended the ICW's 1899 Quinquennial Conference in London as part of the Australian delegation. She outlined objectives that had been drawn from those of the ICW:

  1. To establish a bond of union between the various affiliated societies.
  2. To advance the interests of women and children and of humanity in general.
  3. To confer on questions relating to the welfare of the family, the state and commonwealth.

Margaret McLean, who was the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria (WCTU), put forward the resolution that the National Council of Women of Victoria be formed. [2]

They elected office bearers and committee members which included Clarke as president, Louisa Bevan and Annie Lowe as vice presidents, and committee members Annie Watson Lister, Marie Kirk, and Catherine Hay Thomson. [2]

Inaugural member organisations

At the inaugural meeting there were 35 member organisations represented including: [2]

Medical and social servicesPolitical/Lobby groupsClubs
Association of Domestic EconomyHawthorn Progressive League Austral Salon
Australian Church Social Improvement SocietyJewish Women's GuildAustralasian Women's Association
Collingwood CrecheKew Progressive LeagueBendigo Women's Literary Society
Convalescent Home for WomenPrahran Women's Progressive LeagueCollingwood Girls' Club
Gentlewomen's Aid Society United Council for Women Suffrage Collins Street Independent Church Ladies' Reading Society
Maternity Patients' Convalescent homeVictorian AllianceDaughters of the Court
Melbourne District Nursing SocietyVictorian Lady Teachers' AssociationHawthorn Ladies' Reading Society
Methodist Neglected Children's Aid SocietyVictorian Women's Political LeaguePrincess Ida Club
Queen Victoria Hospital Victorian Women's Post and Telegraph Association Writers' Club
Victorian Infant Asylum and Foundling HospitalVictorian Women's Public Service Association
Women's Health Society Women's Christian Temperance Union
Women's Hospital Women's Progressive League
Young Women's Christian Association

Associated people

References

  1. 1 2 3 Quartly, Marian; Smart, Judith (2015). Respectable Radicals: A History of the National Council of Women of Australia 1896–2006. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: Monash University Publishing. pp. 1–3. ISBN   978-1-922235-94-7.
  2. 1 2 3 Norris, Ada (1978). Champions of the Impossible: A History of the National Council of Women of Victoria 1902–1977. Melbourne, Australia: The Hawthorn Press. pp. 6–10. ISBN   978-0-7256-0227-7.
  3. "Ivy Brookes (1883-1970)". Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  4. Hyslop, Anthea, "Margaret Gardiner Cuthbertson (1864–1944)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025
  5. "A Brief history of the National Council of Women of Victoria, 1902-1945". AWR. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  6. Foley, Meredith, "Eleanor Glencross (1876–1950)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025
  7. Trembath, Richard, "Jessie Isabel Henderson (1866–1951)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025
  8. Hardisty, Sue, "Kathleen Agnes Rose (Kitty) McEwan (1894–1969)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025
  9. "Moss, Alice Frances Mabel (May)". AWR. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  10. Fitzherbert, Margaret, "Dame Audrey Tattie Reader (1903–1989)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025
  11. Smart, Judith, "Lillias Margaret Skene (1867–1957)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 4 July 2025