Elizabeth Caradus ( Russell; 26 April 1832 – 5 November 1912) was a New Zealand

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and welfare worker.

Early life

She was born in Falkirk,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

, Scotland on 26 April 1832 to Elizabeth Adam and David Russell, a carpenter. The family emigrated to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand in 1842 on the ''Jane Gifford.'' She married James Caradus (born 1823 in Ayrshire, Scotland) James arrived at the same time on the '' Duchess of Argyle''. James and Elizabeth were married on 10 October 1848 (the sixth anniversary of their arrival in Auckland), when he was 25 and she only 16 and they established a home in Robinson St in the Village of Parnell. James worked as a rope-maker in

Mechanics Bay Mechanics Bay ( mi, Te Tōangaroa) is a reclaimed bay on the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It is also the name of the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities. Sometimes the bay form ...

. They had 15 children, of whom seven died in infancy, as was not uncommon in those days. James became an expert rope-maker and in 1850 started his own ropewalk in Hobson Street, making a wide variety of twines and ropes from dressed

New Zealand flax New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants ''Phormium tenax'' and ''Phormium colensoi'', known by the Māori names ''harakeke'' and ''wharariki'' respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite distinc ...

. He exhibited several specimens of his work at the Great Exhibition in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1851. Eventually, it became so difficult to obtain supplies of dressed flax from the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

that he gave up the ropemaking trade. James then went to the goldfields in Otago, Ballarat in Australia, and

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, without luck. While he was away, Elizabeth ran a small shop he had built on the front of their house in Napier St,

Freemans Bay Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The bay has been filled in to a considerable extent, with the reclamation area now totally concealing the ancient shoreline. Hist ...

. The shop was owned by the family until 1910. Elizabeth and James

The family later found security by renting out cottages built by James around the Freemans Bay area of Auckland. During this period Freemans Bay was an industrial slum with coal and lime traders, glass and asphalt works and the town

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

.
Historical Background
(from the Addendum 2 February 2006 of the Vic Park Tunnel project documentation,

Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand (Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...

, Page 4. Accessed 2008-02-20.) James and Elizabeth spearheaded the Freeman’s Bay Mission, a Methodist outreach centre, and from 1860 held cottage prayer meetings and outdoor services.

Activism

Elizabeth become involved in the Ladies' Christian Association, which became the third constituent member of the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

, and held mother's meetings where members sewed together, talked, and prayed. She attended the first meetings of the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program ...

and the

Women's Franchise League The Women's Franchise League was a British organisation created by the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst together with her husband Richard and others in 1889, fourteen years before the creation of the Women's Social and Political Union in 1903. The Pr ...

and the

National Council of Women of New Zealand , logo = National Council of Women of New Zealand logo.png , logo_size = 100px , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , alt = , capt ...

where she was a leading figure. Unusually for suffrage leaders, she came from a working-class background; she did not write many letters but she spoke frequently and commonly moved motions. As well as campaigning for temperance and suffrage, she also campaigned against the Contagious Diseases Act 1869, which gave police considerable powers against women suspected of being 'common prostitutes' to combat

venereal disease 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 ...

, but took no action against men. The New Zealand

Contagious Diseases Acts The Contagious Diseases Acts (CD Acts) were originally passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. 85), with alterations and additions made in 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 35) and 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 96). In 1862, a com ...

were a reflection of those in the UK which had initially been restricted to naval and army barracks, but soon spread country-wide. Caradus' signature appears on sheet 406 of the

1893 Women's Suffrage Petition The 1893 women's suffrage petition was the third of three petitions to the New Zealand Government in support of women's suffrage and resulted in the Electoral Act 1893, which gave women the right to vote in the 1893 general election. The 1893 ...

, collected in Auckland.

Death

She died in

on 5 November 1912, survived by seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caradus, Elizabeth 1832 births 1912 deaths New Zealand social workers New Zealand temperance activists New Zealand feminists New Zealand suffragists Scottish emigrants to New Zealand People from Falkirk 19th-century New Zealand people