Angela Elizabeth Josephine Booth (1869–1954) was an English-born Australian eugenicist and social activist. She was a founder and vice president of the Eugenics Society of Victoria. She was involved with the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales and advocated for the sterilisation of the "mentally unfit". From 1926 to 1933 she was a councillor for Doncaster & Templestowe's Warrandyte riding. She was appointed a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1927.

Early life in England

Elizabeth Plover was born on 27 October 1869 in Liverpool, England, to Eliza (née Hall) and Thomas Plover. She styled herself Angela Elizabeth Josephine and migrated to Australia in 1896.

Politics and social activism in Australia

She married the medical practitioner James Booth in Sydney in 1897. In 1901, they moved to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

where she joined the Liberal Education Society and the Women's Political Association. They moved to North Melbourne sometime prior to 1914. Booth left the Women's Political Association in 1915 because she opposed their pacifist response to World War I. Booth was a eugenicist and she supported the elimination of prostitution and

sexually transmitted infection Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...

s. She also opposed the distribution of condoms to soldiers. She founded the Association to Combat the Social Evil and spoke about prostitution in a speech at a Workers' Educational Association conference in Sydney. Booth was a member of the Women's Citizen Movement and the Australian Women's National League. From 1926 until 1933 she was a councillor for Doncaster & Templestowe's Warrandyte riding. Her husband was president of the Australian Literature Society. She was appointed

in 1927. She made an unsuccessful bid for Brighton's seat in the Legislative Assembly in 1929.

Support for eugenics

The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

eroded Booth's belief in liberal reform. She came to believe that crime and unemployment were caused by the proliferation of so-called "mental defectives". Since the late 1920s, she and her husband supported legislation that would provide for the "sterilisation of the unfit". They met people who shared their beliefs through the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales and helped to found the Eugenics Society of Victoria in 1936. She served as vice president of the organisation and alongside president

Wilfred Eade Agar Wilfred Eade Agar FRS (27 April 1882 – 14 July 1951) was an Anglo-Australian zoologist. Agar was born in Wimbledon, England. He was educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire, and at King's College, Cambridge, where he read zoology. He serv ...

, she advocated for sterilisation. Her 1938 lecture "Voluntary Sterilization for Human Betterment" was published by the society. After the death of her husband in 1944, Booth's involvement in social activism diminished. She moved to Melbourne in 1950 and died on 5 September 1954 in Sandringham, Victoria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Angela Elizabeth 1869 births 1954 deaths Australian eugenicists Australian justices of the peace Victoria (state) local councillors People from Liverpool 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Feminist eugenicists English eugenicists