Catherine Helen Spence (1825–1910)

Teacher, writer, pacifist and Unitarian minister, Catherine Helen Spence was a pioneer for social and political reform, possessing 'strength … in far greater measure than any but the most remarkable men of her period'.¹ Chief Justice Sir Samuel Way declared she was the 'most distinguished woman they had had in Australia'.²

Originally from Scotland, Spence arrived in South Australia in 1839 where her father became clerk to the first Adelaide Council. She opened a school in 1846, aiming to be 'a teacher first and a great writer afterwards'. Her first novel (published anonymously in 1854) was one of Australia’s earliest and the first written by a woman. While she continued writing fiction until the 1880s, Spence considered herself a more effective journalist and reviewer.³ She wrote the state’s first social studies school textbook and regularly contributed to local newspapers and journals.

A compelling public speaker, Spence wrote pamphlets, essays and speeches on democracy, federation, and electoral reform. She became Vice-President of the Women's Suffrage League in 1891 and in 1893 launched a statewide campaign advocating for proportional representation. That same year she was a Commissioner and delegate to the World's Fair in Chicago and lectured extensively across Britain, Australasia and North America. Although unsuccessful as a candidate for the 1897 federal convention, through this she became the first Australian woman to stand for election. In 1909 she presided over the formation of the Women's Non-Party Political Association, later the League of Women Voters of South Australia.

Spence co-founded the Boarding-Out Society to foster orphan and destitute children, became a member of the State Children's Council, and was Vice-President of the Kindergarten Union. The first woman appointed to the Destitute Board, she was also a founding shareholder of the South Australian Co-operative Clothing Company and later served as its Chair. She continued to work for social and political reform until her death in Norwood, South Australia.