| 1825 |
born 31 October in Melrose, Scotland and educated
in Edinburgh |
| 1839 |
came to Australia with her family, living with her
parents, and after her father died in 1846, with her mother, whom
she supported |
| 1842 |
became a governess, and was in charge of her own
school by 1845 |
| 1850 |
took up journalism |
| 1856 |
left the Church of Scotland for the Unitarian Church |
| 1859 |
became concerned about electoral reform after reading
a review by John Stuart Mill of Thomas Hare's system of proportional
representation, and wrote a number of publications and articles
on electoral reform, which she called 'effective voting' |
| 1865 |
travelled to England, meeting Mill and Hare to discuss
her ideas |
| 1866 |
co-founded the Boarding Out Society and was an official
between 1872 and 1886 |
| 1886 |
was a founding member of the State Children's Council
until her death in 1910 |
| 1877 |
was the first woman to be placed in an official
position by a South Australian Government when she was appointed
to the School Board of Advice for the East Torrens area |
| 1878 |
was invited to write for the literary pages of The
Register under her own name and to comment on social issues,
which she did for the rest of her life |
| 1886 |
appointed to the inaugural State Children's Council
and was a member until her death |
| 1890 |
devoted the last two decades of her life to campaigning
for electoral reform and proportional representation |
| 1891 |
joined the fight for female suffrage and became
a vice-president of the Women's Suffrage League of South Australia |
| 1893 |
travelled to the Chicago World Fair to address the
International Conference on Charities and Correction, the Proportional
Representation Congress, the Single Tax Conference, the Peace Conference
and a gathering in the Women's Building. She then lectured and preached
across the United States and visited Britain and Switzerland |
| 1894 |
formed the Effective Voting League of South Australia |
| 1895 |
appointed to the Commission of Enquiry into the
management and condition of the Adelaide Hospital; the first woman
in Australia to participate in an official commission |
| 1897 |
appointed to the Destitute Board, of which she was
a member until her death |
| 1897 |
stood (unsuccessfully) as a candidate for the Federal
Convention held in Adelaide, becoming the first woman political
candidate in Australia |
| 1901 |
chaired the management board of the Co-operative
Clothing Company, a shirt-making factory owned and run by women |
| 1902 |
formed a short-lived South Australian branch of
the International Council of Women |
| 1909 |
chaired the meeting which formed the Women's Non-Party
Political Association |
| 1910 |
died at Queen Street, Norwood on 3 April, with her
hand in that of her beloved niece's Lucy Morice, and was buried
at St Jude's Brighton Cemetery. |
