LUMEN Summer 2019 - Flipbook - Page 10
These were largely middle class family groups
with South Australia quickly developing a
reputation for its healthier social and moral
climate, thanks to a high proportion of young
married colonists.
Educated women made better mothers
With an influx of religious families came an
influx of ideas and particular attention to a
woman’s place in society.
“There was a very religious culture of
Protestantism and women were very much
in the household, taking care of the children
and doing the housework,” said Courtney.
“But the understanding was if you educated
women, it would make them better mothers,
better homemakers and better wives.”
Reflecting the colony’s desire for educated
mothers, the University of Adelaide welcomed
non-matriculated female students from its
inception in 1874. At this time many men
would return to the UK in pursuit of education
from well-established institutions.
As a result, the University’s debut cohort
comprised just six matriculated students and
52 non-matriculated students, of which 34
were women.
8
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
Guideline changes later allowed matriculated
women to graduate, paving the way for the
University’s first female graduate in 1885,
Edith Dornwell.
“Edith was our first female graduate but she
was also the first person, male or female, to
graduate with a science degree in Australia.
“This was roughly ten years before women had
the right to vote, so in that respect the University
was slightly ahead of women’s suffrage.”
Education as the foundation for suffrage
Education laid the groundwork for the
suffrage movement by levelling the intellectual
playing field.
“As women came to the University, they
realised their say needed to be heard in
Parliament,” said Courtney.
“Some women had the same education
outcomes as men. They were getting degrees,
they had the same academic minds, and so
that’s where the notion came from that they
should also have the right to vote.”
What began as scattered committee meetings
in churches and town halls, took more than ten
years to eventuate in women’s suffrage, with
arguments against the movement centred on
