Jessie Spink Rooke (10 September 1845 – 4 January 1906) was a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and

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 ...

reformer in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and one of the first Tasmanian women to gain recognition outside Tasmania.

Life

Jessie Rooke was born in London on September 10, 1845, to William Walker and Catherine Scollay. Rooke moved to

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 ...

, and in 1867, she married New Zealander Peter Charles Reid. After he died, she married widower Charles Rooke on August 14, 1883. The Rookes moved to Tasmania in the early 1890s, and Jessie Rooke became involved with the Burnie

Woman'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 th ...

(WCTU). She was elected president in 1894. The WCTU emerged as leaders of the Tasmanian suffrage campaign. In 1896 Rooke toured Tasmania with suffrage superintenden
Georgina_Kermode
.html" ;"title="Georgina Kermode">Georgina Kermode
">Georgina Kermode">Georgina Kermode
They arranged public meetings of women, collecting campaign funds, distributing pamphlets, and collecting signatures on a petition calling for the vote to be extended to women. The petition was presented to the Tasmanian parliament at the end of 1896. In 1898 Rooke toured Tasmania again with South Australian Elizabeth Nicholls. They visited 30 towns collecting signatures on a petition. Although suffrage bills were defeated in both 1896 and 1897, the Electoral Act of 1903 granted Tasmanian women the right to vote. In 1898, Rooke became president of the Tasmanian WCTU branch, and in 1903, president of the Australian WCTU. Rooke was a delegate to the 1902

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...

Conference in Washington, and, in 1903, she founded the Tasmanian Women's Suffrage Association, which mobilized women for the next election. Rooke remained president of the WCTU until her death in 1906 from congestive heart failure.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Jessie 1845 births 1906 deaths Australian suffragists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women