3 April 1910   Catherine Helen Spence

Catherine Helen Spence died at the age of 81 years on 3 April 1910. Born in Scotland, she came to South Australia with her family in 1839.   From her youth she was interested in politics and in the 1860s she met her mentor, John Stuart Mill, in England.

She was Vice President of the Women's Suffrage League in 1892, the main force behind the achievement of the enfranchisement of women in South Australia in 1894. She created history when she became the first female political candidate to stand for election on 6 March 1897. This election was for delegates for the second Federal Convention to be held in 1897/98 to discuss the federation of the Australian Colonies. Of the 33 candidates who stood all but six had served in the Legislature and four Ministers and one ex-Minister were amongst them. Although Spence failed to be elected she paved the way for other women to aspire to political office. 

In her younger years she wrote several novels, the most well known being Clara Morison. Her major interest was the introduction of proportional representation and for years she worked to have this system accepted. She spoke on this subject, and female suffrage, in Australia, Canada, the United States and England. For many years she also worked tirelessly for charitable organisations as well as for social reforms. She was still working for her goal of proportional representation when she died.

Helen Jones, 'South Australian Women and Politics', in
Dean Jaensch (ed), The Flinders History of South Australia Political History, 1986, pp. 414-448.