Smyth, Brettena (1842 - 1898)

Brettena was a mature woman of 43 when she became involved in politics - by then a widow, a business owner, and the mother of several children. In 1888 she formed the Australian Women's Suffrage Society, later enveloped by the Victorian Women's Franchise League. A freethinker, Smyth was opposed to orthodox religion and strongly advocated the use of birth control. In 1893 she published The Limitation of Offspring, and she sold rubber pessaries at her grocery shop. Smyth was a competent public speaker and a respected Melbourne identity in the 1890s.

• Riordan, Bridgetena (maiden name)

Founded by

• The Australian Women’s Suffrage Society (1888 - 1898)

Books

• School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne, They Are But Women: The Road to Female Suffrage in Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, 221 pp. [ Details... ]

See also

• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au. [ Details... ]
• Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. (Also available at http://www.200australianwomen.com/) [ Details... ]