Alice "May" Moss,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(27 April 1869 – 18 July 1948) was an Australian welfare worker and women's rights activist.

Biography

She was born as Alice Frances Mabel Wilson in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College in East Melbourne. She married grazier Isidore Henry Moss in March 1887 and they had two daughters. While her children were young, Moss began to campaign for the rights of women and served as vice-president of the Australian Women's National League in 1906–14, during that time she actively campaigned in Victoria for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. She was a member of the National Council of Women of Victoria from its formation in 1904. In 1914 she relinquished her position as vice-president of the

Australian Women's National League The Australian Women's National League (AWNL) was an Australian political lobby group federation first established in 1904. It acted in many ways like a political party, with an extensive branch network and the capability to run its own candidates ...

at the onset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in order to become the (then) only female member of the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n recruiting committee for the Armed Services. She was an Australian delegate at the League of Nations Assembly at Geneva in 1927, where she was the first woman to sit on a finance committee. She attended the International Council of Women in Geneva in the same year and in 1928 was elected as vice president of the ICW, a position she held until her death. She was the first president of the National Council of Women of Australia, serving from 1931 to 1936. She was involved in organising the centenary of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

celebrations, she was on the executive of the Victorian and Melbourne Centenary Celebrations Council and chaired the Women's Centenary Council. She was the first female non-professional member of the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

. Moss died on 18 July 1948, in a private hospital in Melbourne. Moss Street, in the Canberra suburb of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, May 1869 births 1948 deaths Australian suffragists Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Activists from Melbourne People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne People from Ballarat 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women