Elizabeth Brentnall

Elizabeth Brentnall (1830, Nottingham, England – 1909, Brisbane, Australia) was an Australian suffragist and temperance activist.[1] She was the first Queensland president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.[2] She pushed for adoption of women’s suffrage as mission activity.[3]

Life

Elizabeth Brentnall (nee Watson) was born in 1830 in Nottingham, England.[1] Her father was a store-keeper in Mansfield, Nottingham.[4] In 1867, Brentnall left a position of headmistress of a Methodist school in Lancashire and migrated to Sydney.[1] There the same year she married a Methodist clergyman Frederick Brentnall.[4]

In 1885, Brentnall became the first Queensland president of the Woman Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).[2] As a president of the WCTU she pushed for adoption of women’s suffrage as mission activity in 1881.[3] Brentnall and her husband were also philanthropists, they helped in difficult circumstances and situations. They offered noticeable assistance in flood relief work in both the 1890 and 1893 Brisbane floods.[5] Brentnall remained in the position of the president of the WCTU until 1899.[1] In 1899, Brental retired due to an injury to her knee cap.[2] Afterwards she was an honorary life president of the WCTU.[1]

Brentnall died in 1909 in Brisbane, Australia.[4]

John McCulloch wrote a biography of Elizabeth Brentnall that remains unpublished.[6][7]

References
  1. Melbourne, The University of. "Brentnall, Elizabeth - Woman - The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  2. "DEATH OF MRS F. T. BRENTNALL". Brisbane Courier. 1909-05-01. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  3. "Women's right to vote in Queensland | History of women in Queensland". www.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  4. Lawson, Ronald, "Brentnall, Frederick Thomas (1834–1925)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2021-10-09
  5. "LATE DISASTROUS FLOODS". Brisbane Courier. 1893-02-08. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  6. Jordan, Dr. Deborah. "QUEENSLAND WOMEN'S FRANCHISE PETITIONS OF 1894 AND 1897" (PDF). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  7. McCulloch, John ES (February 2011). "Elizabeth Brentnall: Myth, Magic and Methodism". Queensland History Journal. doi:10.3316/informit.735220761054415.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.