New blue plaques honour feminist visionaries Louisa Lawson and the Golding sisters
The Minns Labor Government has paid tribute to 4 torchbearers of women’s rights today, unveiling 2 blue plaques near Mudgee commemorating Louisa Lawson, NSW’s ‘Mother of Suffrage’, and Annie, Belle and Kate Golding, teachers turned feminist activists.
All 4 were instrumental in the campaign to give women the vote at the turn of the century and they remained powerful forces of change and champions of workplace equality.
Born at Guntawang Station near Mudgee in 1848, Louisa was a star pupil at Mudgee National School and helped care for her 10 younger siblings, as was common practice for girls at the time.
After moving to Sydney with her 4 children she bought the pro-federation newspaper The Republican, writing and editing most of the paper with her son Henry. A year later, she launched the feminist journal Dawn, amplifying women’s causes and calling for their suffrage.
It wasn’t long before Lousia grew into a powerhouse activist, forming the women's political forum ‘the Dawn Club’, employing female printers, and supporting trade unionism.
She joined the Womanhood Suffrage League of NSW, and then the Women’s Progressive Association with its strong ties to the labour movement. In 1902, when the NSW Woman’s Franchise Bill was passed, Louisa was dubbed 'the Mother of Suffrage in NSW'.
Her blue plaque can be found at the Old Eurunderee Post Office outside Mudgee, just a few minutes’ drive from Louisa’s old schoolhouse, and the place where she once worked.
The Golding sisters were also giants of NSW’s women’s rights movement and were honoured with a blue plaque at the Hill End Historic Site, not far from their native Tambaroora.
Annie, Belle and Kate all started their working lives as teachers in country NSW in the late 1800s but soon moved to Sydney’s inner west where they spearheaded women's activism.
All 3 joined the Womanhood Suffrage League of NSW, then the Women’s Progressive Association, where Annie became President. It was here they advocated for social and domestic reforms supporting women’s rights to vote, work, and earn better pay.
In 1899 the Early Closing Act saw improved working conditions for women. Belle became the first female inspector under the Act, and later the first woman to chair a Wages Board.
Kate went on to lead the Women's Organising Committee of the Political Labor League, co-founded the Women’s Worker's Union, opened a factory for unemployed needlewomen, became the University of Sydney’s first female fellow of the Senate and headed the Benevolent Society of NSW.
Together the sisters fought systemic sexism and were pivotal in the hard-fought battle to deliver women their fundamental rights and the working conditions they deserved.
The fascinating stories of people and events in the Blue Plaques program are on our website.
'These 4 female trailblazers dedicated their lives to bettering all aspects of life for women in our state, at a time when it was difficult and dangerous to speak up and force change.
'We are all indebted to Louisa, Annie, Belle and Kate’s courageous acts, as they opened the door for the monumental progress and giant shifts towards the workplace and pay equality that women continue to strive for today.'
Stephen Lawrence MLC, said:
'These 4 women’s stories deserve to be remembered as among the most inspirational in the Central West’s rich history.
'I’m proud to commemorate Louisa Lawson and the Golding sisters with blue plaques at Eurunderee and Hill End – it was here, in these communities, where they first grew into the pioneers and visionaries we know and celebrate, and I’m thrilled to share their legacies with NSW.'