Rose Scott

Rose Scott was a lifelong advocate and activist for female empowerment in Australia at the turn of the 20th century. She used her resources and voice to expand women’s rights through various organizations, often ones she would help create.

Rose Scott was born on October 8th, 1847 in Glendon, New South Wales Australia. She was one of eight children born to Helenus Scott and Sarah Ann. While Rose’s brothers went on to boarding school for their education, Rose and her sisters were taught by their mother. Despite this, Rose still found literature such as Shakespere’s Taming of the Shrew, The Subjection of Women and the Fate of Joan of Arc as clear signs of injustice in the world. Rose would also work in Sunday school, collecting funds for the Widows and Orphans fund, along with volunteering with The Girls Friendly Society. As she grew up, she never married and started devoting her life to the empowerment of all women.

After Her father’s death, she inherited a vast amount of wealth and moved with her mother and newly adopted son to Sydney. In Sydney, Rose would hold meetings, gathering poets, politicians, writers, judges, and more, making her an icon in the city. In 1889, she wrote her first published article, discussing the inequalities of the educational system. In that same year, Rose would go on to co-found the Women’s Literary Society, whose goal was to improve the study of general literature. This organization also helped with forming the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales. As the name suggests, this group was focused on empowering women with the right to vote, which was written into law in 1902. Rose Scott’s journey to support women’s rights did not end there; she became president of the Women’s Political Education League, which helped inform women about political topics on which they could vote.

Rose advocated for many just causes to improve life for women beyond simply the right to vote. Rose would go on to work with Charles Mackellar to develop the Infant Protection Act in 1904, which helped protect women’s rights after birth. She campaigned for the raising of the age of consent as well as used her position in the Prisoner’s Aid Association to advocate for reforms to conditions and discriminatory practices in prisons. Rose Scott was also an absolute pacifist and became the president of Sydney’s branch of the Peace Society in 1908. Rose spoke out against conflicts such as the Boer War and even clashed with swimmers over their participation in the 1912 Olympics as a form of protest.

After a long public life of activism, she retired in 1922. Unfortunately, she passed away on April 20th, 1925 in her home in Sydney, and was later buried in Rookwood cemetery. Rose Scott devoted her whole life to empowering women to do what they wanted outside the limited options that were typically available to them at that time. She played an important role in expanding those rights, a battle which continues to this day across the globe. Her words still ring true to this day:

“We see government programme after government programme – men’s needs, interests or fads always first – women’s nowhere. Before the Women’s Suffrage Cause was won, these reforms I have indicated were most of them advocated as reasons for the woman’s vote. And even now if women would only combine and work for these reforms and stand apart from Parties and factions, there is nothing that they would not be able to accomplish for their fellow women and the children. Greater, far greater, is justice than charity – for justice speaks emancipation, liberty and freedom.”

Scott, Rose (1912) Laws Women Need, 1912, speech to National Council of Women,

https://www.portrait.gov.au/words/rose-scott

Works Cited:

Collections, S. (2017, May 15). Two roses: Two radical hunter valley women: Rose Selwyn and
Rose Scott. Hunter Living Histories. https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2017/05/15/two-roses/

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Rose Scott. Encyclopædia Britannica.
https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Rose-Scott/602776#

Judith Allen, 'Scott, Rose (1847–1925)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of
Biography, Australian National University,
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/scott-rose-8370/text14689

published first in hardcopy 1988
"Scott, Rose (1847-1925)". Trove. 2008. Web. 6 September 2024
https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-527700