Brettena Smyth
Brettena Smyth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bridgetena Riordan 1845 |
| Died | 15 February 1898 (aged 52) |
| Occupations | |
| Organization | Australian Women's Suffrage Society |
| Title | Founder |
| Movement | |
| Children | 5 |
Bridgetena "Brettena" Smyth (née Riordan; 1845[1] – 15 February 1898) was an Australian women's rights activist.[2] She was also an entrepreneur, converting the family store into a drapery business and drug store after her husband's death.
Biography
Early life and marriage
The daughter of John Riordan and Bridgetena Cavanagh, she was born in Kyneton. She was largely self-taught but an avid reader. In 1861, she married William Taylor Smyth, a greengrocer; the couple had five children.[3]
Career
After her husband died in 1873, Smyth converted the family store into a drapery business and drug store.[3] She also became an active member of the Victorian Women's Suffrage Society in 1885, and was elected as Secretary in July of 1888, however after a disagreement at a committee meeting in August, Smyth and a number of other members resigned. The next month she founded the Australian Women's Suffrage Society and became its president.[4]
An advocate of birth control, she lectured on contraceptive techniques and sold a women's contraceptive device, a rubber pessary from France, in her shop. She advocated a more balanced partnership between men and women in marriage.[3]
She planned to study medicine at the University of Melbourne but was thwarted by the financial crisis during the 1890s.[3]
Death and legacy
Smyth died of Bright's disease at the residence of her son, Charles Smyth, Cricketers' Hotel, Morwell. "Fortified by rites of Holy Church",[5] she was buried in Melbourne General Cemetery.[3]
On 13 March 1995, on the 139th anniversary of Labour day, Joan Kirner dedicated a memorial at Smyth's unmarked grave at Melbourne General Cemetery.[6] At the suggestion of Helen D. Harris,[4] the Labour Historical Graves Committee had organised the bluestone grave and headstone, created by stonemason Andrew Patience, and funded by the CFMEU. It was the first time a woman was honoured by the Committee.[6]
Publications
- Love, Courtship and Marriage (1892)
- The Limitation of Offspring (1893)
- The Social Evil (1894)
- What Every Woman Should Know: Diseases Incidental to Women (1895)
References
- ^ Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922
- ^ "Smyth, Brettena (c. 1840 - 1898)". Australian Women's Register.
- ^ a b c d e Kelly, Farley. "Smyth, Bridgetena (Brettena) (1840–1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- ^ a b Harris, Helen D. (2009). Helen Hart: 'Founder of Women's Suffrage in Australasia'. Victoria, Australia: Harriland Press. ISBN 9780958085144.
- ^ "Family Notices - Death & Funeral". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 16 February 1898. p. 1. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Labour Day (139th Anniversary) celebrated in Melbourne on March 13th 1995" (PDF). Recorder. 1311 (190): 2–4. April 1995. ISSN 0155-8722 – via Labourhistorymelbourne.org.
Further reading
- "Brettana Smyth (1840–1898)" in De Vries, Susanna (1998), Strength of purpose : Australian women of achievement from Federation to the mid-20th century, HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-7322-6784-1
- "Feminism and the Family: Brettena Smyth" by Farley Kelly in Fry, E. C. (Eric Charles), 1921-2007 (1983), Rebels and radicals, George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 978-0-86861-285-0
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "Brettena Smyth: Sex and Politics" by Kathryn Sutherland in University of Melbourne. School of Historical Studies (2007), 'They are but women' : the road to female suffrage in Victoria, School of Historical Studies, The University of Melbourne, ISBN 978-0-646-47727-5