- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE1133
Kirk, Maria (Marie) Elizabeth
(1855 – 1928)- Born 9 December 1855, London, , United Kingdom
- Died 14 January 1928, Malvern, Victoria, Australia
- Occupation Welfare worker, Women's rights activist
Summary
Marie Kirk was a leading figure in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union both in Victoria and nationally and helped to establish the Victorian Union in 1887. She held numerous executive positions in the organisation. She was also a strong supporter of women’s rights, a member of the Victorian Women’s Franchise League, and helped to establish the National Council of Women of Victoria in 1902. She supported equal pay, raising the age of consent for girls, and also took a keen interest in the welfare of women prisoners and in the kindergarten movement.
Details
Kirk (nee Sutton) was born in London in 1855 and married Frank Kirk (an ironmonger and later bootmaker) in 1878. Reared as a Quaker, she worked as a missionary in London’s ‘slums’ and became active in the British Women’s Temperance Association. In 1886 she represented this group at a meeting held in Toronto to organise the World Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She moved to Victoria that same year.
Events
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2001
Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women
Archival resources
Published resources
- Book Section
- Newsletter
-
Resource
- Trove: Kirk, Maria (1855-1928), http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-728053
- 1891 Women's Suffrage Petition, Parliament of Victoria
- Edited Book