Bessie Rischbieth
Encyclopedia
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(187413 March 1967) was an influential and early Australian feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and social activist. A leading or founding member of many social reform groups, such as the Women's Service Guilds
Women's Service Guilds
The Women's Service Guilds, initially known as the Women's Service Guilds of Western Australia, was an organizing body of the feminist movement in Australia...
, the Australian Federation of Women Voters and their periodical Dawn, she sought to establish international campaigns for social change and human rights.
Early life
Bessie Mabel Earle was born in Adelaide and lived in Burra Burra, South AustraliaSouth Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
where her parents, William Earle and Jane (née Carvosso), owned a farm. She returned, along with her sister, to Adelaide to continue her schooling, living with her uncle William Rounsevell, a politician, also of Cornish Australian
Cornish Australian
Cornish Australians are citizens of Australia whose ancestry originates in Cornwall, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin...
parentage, who was influential in the formation of his niece's social consciousness. She attended the Advanced School for Girls in Adelaide and participated in debate within her home on the topics of the day, including federation and women's emancipation. South Australia was the first Australian state to grant a vote to women, making her one of the first able to do so.
Marriage
She married a wool merchant, M. Henry Wills Rischbieth, on 22 October 1898. When the couple moved to Western Australia, they established themselves in Peppermint GrovePeppermint Grove, Western Australia
Peppermint Grove is an affluent western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River at Freshwater Bay. Its Local Government Area, the smallest in the country, is the Shire of Peppermint Grove. The suburb was named after its trademark "Peppermint trees" lining many streets...
with the residence 'Unalla' (1904), which remained her home. Her husband successfully traded as Henry Wills & Co and profited from his local investments. The Rischbieths did not have children which, combined with affluence, allowed Bessie to engage her interests in feminism and social reform.
Career
In 1906 Rischbieth founded the Children's Protection Society and joined the Women's Service Guilds of Western Australia in 1909. The Rischbieths travelled throughout JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and stayed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during 1908. Women's suffrage was a dominant topic in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
at this time; a mass rally, subsequent public debate and prosecutions of activists were occurring. Rischbieth's pacifist response to Cat and Mouse Act
Cat and Mouse Act
The Prisoners Act 1913 was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913...
in particular, fired a passion for the equality movement. After hearing Emily Pankhurst speak for the Women's Social and Political Union
Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...
, she wrote to her sister, "... as I listened, I felt my backbone growing longer, as though you gained courage and freedom from her".
After attending the suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
meeting in London in 1913, she became an active feminist through the WSG and helped to found the Australian Federation of Women's Societies (AFWV).
In 1915 she was given honorary appointment to the Children's Court and acted on the bench there for fifteen years. She was also the first woman appointed a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
at the Perth Court after a successful campaign to alter remnant legislation forbidding women to be seated at the bench
Bench (law)
Bench in legal contexts means simply the location in a courtroom where a judge sits. The historical roots of that meaning come from the fact that judges formerly sat on long seats or benches when presiding over a court...
. The Scaddan government's proposed Health Act (1915) was sharply divisive. Rischbieth's WSG challenged the bill while Cowan
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan , MBE was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament....
, Roberta Jull
Roberta Jull
Roberta Henrietta Margaritta Jull was a medical doctor who, in November 1896, joined her brothers' practice at Guildford, Western Australia, becoming dismayed by the living conditions and high infant mortality among her patients...
and the National Council of Women supported it. Her contact with the British Dominion League inspired her to form the first national feminist organisation, federating the AFWV in 1921. She immediately affiliated it with the International Women's Suffrage Alliance, an international organisation founded in 1902.
Rischbieth was British Commonwealth League of Women foundation vice-president from 1925 and inaugural secretary of the Western Australian Women Justices' Association. The next year she became a board member of International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship. In 1928 she led the Australian delegation to the Pan-Pacific Women's Conference in Honolulu. She lobbied for women's representation in, and was appointed to, the Australian delegation to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
Moseley Royal Commission
The Moseley Royal Commission, officially titled the Royal Commission Appointed to Investigate, Report and Advise Upon Matters in Relation to the Condition and Treatment of Aborigines was a Government of Western Australia Royal Commission established in 1934 to hear evidence regarding the treatment...
calling for investigation of the "present alleged practice of taking children of a certain age to the Government mission stations and thus depriving their parents of the custody of their children". She pointed out to Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
in 1934 that Australia was a signatory of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
Covenant and had acquired a responsibility to the indigenous people. Mentor to the activist and author Mary Montgomerie Bennett, their correspondence reveals her ongoing concern for Aboriginal women and children. In England during the war years, she established World for Australian servicemen at Australia House
Australia House
The High Commission of Australia in London is housed in Australia House, a building that also accommodates other Australian federal and state government agencies, including the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, part of King's College London....
. Rischbieth served again as president of the Women's Service Guilds of Western Australia from 1946 to 1950. The WSGWA was a conservatively based and politically independent organisation that helped to advance projects such as a maternity hospital (KEMH
King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women
King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women is located at 374 Bagot Road, Subiaco, Western Australia.It provides pregnancy and neonatal care within the greater Perth Metropolitan area. In cases where patients have gone to private maternity clinics they may be moved to KEMH should complications occur...
) that accepted single women, despite widespread opposition. The WSGWA published a journal, Dawn, for which Rischbieth was founder editor and a frequent contributor. The journal was reformatted as The Dawn Newsletter in 1949 despite shortages of paper. In 1955 she was made a life member of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship.
In the later years of her life Rischbieth's public dispute with Jessie Street
Jessie Street
Jessie Mary Grey Street was an Australian suffragette, feminist and human rights campaigner....
, whom she labelled a communist, was reported in the media. Rischbieth was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
on 3 June 1935 for "service with the women's movements". Despite differences between Rischbieth and her colleague's politics they shared much in common which resulted in cooperative or parallel campaigns addressing issues relating to women, indigenous Australians, and pacifism. The WSG, under Rischbieth, remained closely linked to the peace movements of the inter-war years. Her work in establishing the Kindergarten Union of WA
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
provided free preschool education and she directly funded the central office.
Civic life and the arts
Edith Cowan
Edith Dircksey Cowan , MBE was an Australian politician, social campaigner and the first woman elected to an Australian parliament....
's successful campaign and often directly lobbied regarding civil rights and conservation. Her correspondents include Prime Ministers Lyons
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...
, Curtin
John Curtin
John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
and Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
. Her position within the establishment and the civil rights movement afforded her a close ear from the influential. A wish for political independence from the emerging two party system could not exempt her presentation as a 'Conservative' figurehead. The Australian Womens Charter had elected Jessie Street
Jessie Street
Jessie Mary Grey Street was an Australian suffragette, feminist and human rights campaigner....
during her absence in England and their discourse became public when she returned to Australia after the war. She was a member of the Karrakatta Club
Karrakatta Club
The Karrakatta Club is a women's club in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1894, it was the first women's club in Australia.-History:The Karrakatta Club was founded in 1894 by members of the St George Reading Circle. The St George Reading Circle was formed around 1887 for the purpose of...
and exhibited work at the West Australian Society of Arts. Her book, The March of Australian Women (1964), was a comprehensive survey of the national feminist movement. Rischbieth was also a campaigner for urban planning and natural heritage.
Rischbieth was an important member of the Theosophical movement; a group that overlapped with feminist and conservation activism in post-federation Australia. She was a Co-Freemason, a movement that was also often linked with Theosophy. She travelled to parts of Asia and was interested in eastern philosophy and culture, staying once at Gandhi's ashram.
Last years
Rischbieth promoted a Citizens Committee for the Preservation of Kings ParkKings Park, Western Australia
Kings Park is a park located on the western edge of Perth, Western Australia central business district. The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland. With panoramic views of the Swan...
and the Swan River and successfully prevented an olympic swimming pool being built. During construction of the Narrows Bridge
Narrows Bridge
The Narrows Bridge is a freeway crossing of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, at The Narrows between Mill Point and Mount Eliza. Made up of two road bridges and a railway bridge, it connects the Mitchell and Kwinana Freeways, linking the city's northern and southern suburbs...
, Rischbieth, almost ninety years old, symbolically attempted to block it by entering the river ahead of the bulldozers. This was published in the West Australian newspaper and succeeded in generating public discussion of development, although it failed to stop land reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
of the Perth foreshore.
Writings
In her copy of the transcript of Irene Greenwood's 1947 broadcast on her life and work, Rischbieth added: "Rather too personal I think". Rischbieth's own book, March of Australian Women, only refers to her late husband's posthumous contributions to the establishment of the state kindergarten system.Death
She remained active in social issues until her death at Bethesda Hospital, in Claremont, Western AustraliaClaremont, Western Australia
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River.-History:Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, John Butler, a settler, set up an inn at Freshwater Bay to...
on 13 March 1967.
Legacy
The Women's Service Guilds were responsible for the founding of National Council of Women of AustraliaNational Council of Women of Australia
The National Council of Women of Australia is an Australian organisation founded in 1931. The council is an umbrella organisation with which are affiliated seven State and Territory National Councils of Women...
, Girl Guides
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
, the Housewives Association, Civilian Widows, Swan River Conservation, and many other organisations dispensing or advocating social justice to women and children across the state and nation.
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The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
's W.A.'s 100 most influential list and a conservation award
Conservation Council of Western Australia
The Conservation Council of Western Australia is the umbrella body for conservation groups and organisations in Western Australia. It has been the co-ordinator, publisher and guiding body for issues of woodchipping in the South West of Western Australia, the logging of old growth forests, as well...
bears her name. An extensive collection of her papers and other material is archived by the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
.
Further reading
- Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1962, 17 edn, Colorgravure Publications, Melbourne, 1962.
- Davidson, Dianne, Women on the warpath : feminists of the first wave, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, 1997.
- Matters, Leonard W., (Mrs.), Australasians Who Count in London and Who Counts in Western Australia, London, J. Truscott, 1913. Held at Battye Library, Perth
Published works
- March of Australian Women: a record of fifty years' struggle for equal citizenship. Perth, Paterson Brokensha, 1964. (177 p. : illus., facsims., ports.)
- The Dawn, journal of the Federation of Women Voters