Annette Bear-Crawford

Annette Ellen Bear-Crawford (born Annette Ellen Bear, 23 February 1853 – 7 June 1899) was an Australian women's suffragist and social reformer in Victoria. She was instrumental in uniting and training the women's suffrage organisations in the Colony of Victoria to coordinate a sustained campaign for women to gain the vote. She established a shilling fund to found the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. She was a social reformer, and successfully agitated to have the age of consent increased, and have women involved in factory inspecting, and policing to ensure the safety of women.

Annette Bear-Crawford
Born	(1853-02-23)February 23, 1853 Collingwood, Victoria, Australia
Died	7 June 1899(1899-06-07) (aged 46) London, England
Known for	Co-founding: The Victorian Women's Suffrage (Franchise) League The United Council for Women's Suffrage The Queen Victoria Hospital for Women

Bear-Crawford died unexpectedly from pneumonia, aged 46, while on a trip to England to attend the Women's International Conference. She did not live to see women gain the vote in Victoria or Australia. She also died a week before the opening of the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. In 2007, she was inducted into the Victorian Honour roll of women.

Early life

Bear-Crawford was born Annette Ellen Bear, in Collingwood, Victoria, on 23 February 1853 to Annette Eliza Bear née Williams, and John Pinney Bear. John was from Devon, England and made money on a stock and station agency in Australia, and with his earnings he established the Chateau Tahbilk winery on the Goulburn River. She had three brothers and five sisters. Her education was a priority and was provided first by governesses in Australia and England, until she attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, Gloucestershire.

Career

Early social work career in the UK

After her schooling, she spent some time in France and Germany, before returning to England to train in social work to work in London's New Hospital. She was known for her involvement with the National Vigilance Association (NVA).^[1] She was also involved in the women's suffrage movement in the UK which was being led by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Her parents moved back to Australian in 1888, however, Bear-Crawford had already established herself, and stayed in England. She returned to Australia, aged 37, to live with her mother when her father died in 1890.^[2]

Returning to Australia

After returning to Australia Bear-Crawford got involved in the same work she left behind in England. She focused on issues concerning the welfare of women and children. She joined the Women's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria (WCTU) and got involved in their causes.^[3] In 1891 the WCTU held a women-only meeting about the Criminal Law Amendment Bill which would raise the age of consent for girls, in the Colony of Victoria, from 10 to 16.^[4][5] It was being heard in parliament, and the WCTU resolved to lead a deputation to the Premier James Munro to pressure him not to water down the bill, as some members of parliament were suggesting the bill be changed to only raise the age to 14. Bear-Crawford attended the deputation as a representative of the National Vigilance Association of which she had been a member in England.^[6] After this, Bear-Crawford was involved in forming the Victorian Vigilance Society, based on the National Vigilance Association.^[7] The inaugural meeting was held at the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne on 5 April 1892, and the foundational members included the chairman Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, as well as James Balfour, John Laurence Rentoul, and Constance Stone, who all gave speeches.^[8] The Earl of Meath, a member of the National Vigilance Association in Britain, delivered congratulations from the association to Bear-Crawford on the successful passing of the bill which raised the age of consent to 16, a feat which had not yet been successful in Britain.^[9]

Bear-Crawford became a leading force in the growing women's movement which was then most concerned with gaining the franchise. Bear-Crawford believed that 'the vote would be the most effective instrument for improving conditions of life'. She used her fine organizing abilities to strengthen and eventually unite the existing suffrage societies. With the support of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria (WCTU), she formed the Victorian Women's Suffrage (Franchise) League. Then, on her initiative, the United Council for Woman Suffrage was founded in 1894, with representatives from organizations interested in the cause; she was first president and later honorary secretary. The council lobbied politicians and municipal councillors and organized a monster petition in favour of women's suffrage, but failed to persuade members of the Legislative Council to allow the passage of a franchise bill.^{[citation needed]}

Bear-Crawford also helped to educate women for public work. An accomplished and logical speaker, she trained other women in the art; Vida Goldstein, who accompanied her to meetings, was shown how to handle hecklers and answer questions. Bear-Crawford constantly addressed WCTU and suffrage meetings and also encouraged women to gain election to school boards of advice. She helped to obtain amendments to legislation affecting women, including the raising of the age of consent to sixteen, and the appointment of women as factory inspectors and to the Benevolent Asylum Committee. She also saw the need for police matrons and women to administer the Infant Life Protection Act (1890), and was one of the first members of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and of the Victorian Vigilance Society. She was a stimulus and inspiration to Victorian feminists of the time. Perhaps her most enduring achievement was the foundation in Melbourne of the Queen Victoria Hospital for women, which grew out of her concern for the welfare of unmarried mothers and their children; she organized the successful Queen's Willing Shilling fund in 1897 to launch the scheme but did not live to see the hospital opened.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

In 1894, Bear-Crawford married William Crawford, and they both adopted a double barreled last name, combining both of their names.^[7]

Beatrice Webb described her as a 'gentle-tempered intelligent woman who keeps me company in the dowdiness of her dress'. Domestic, affectionate and well-read, she had a 'lovable, sunny nature', but as an ardent feminist she believed strongly in women's equality with men; the Age reported in an editorial of 22 September 1897 that she had 'uttered the rather astounding dictum that most things worth having were originally produced by women. Man, she said, is destructive, while woman is constructive'.^{[citation needed]}

Death and legacy

Plaque to Bear-Crawford at the Christ Church, South Yarra

In November 1898, after a farewell evening at the Prahran Town Hall, she left for England to attend the Women's International Conference. Her husband joined her in London only three weeks before she died of pneumonia, on 7 June 1899, aged 46. On 4 July a memorial service was held in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne; in 1902 a statue was unveiled in London to her memory and, in tribute to her work in England and Australia, her English friends placed a bronze plaque on the wall of Christ Church, South Yarra.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007 Bear-Crawford was inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.^[10]

See also

• Women and government in Australia