Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Women's Christian Temperance Union of Queensland
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1885-
History
The first Australian branch of the United-States-based Women's Christian Temperance Union was formed in Sydney in 1882, however the movement did not gain traction in Australia until 1885 when Mary Leavitt, the first world missionary of the American WCTU, toured the colonies and helped found ten new branches, five in Queensland alone. The following year the Queensland branches came together to formally establish the WCTUQ. Conservative in outlook, the Union’s primary mission was to promote total abstinence from alcohol, but it also campaigned on a wide range of other issues relating to the social position of women, most notably female suffrage, which it saw as beneficial to the entire community and as a means to further its own agenda through women’s power at the ballot box. The WCTUQ played a significant role in Queensland social reform politics throughout the 1890s and in the leadup to the winning of (white) female suffrage in Queensland in 1905. Although it remained in existence throughout the twentieth century, the era prior to WW1 marked the highpoint of the WCTUQ’s influence in Queensland.
Places
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Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
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Relationships area
Access points area
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Control area
Authority record identifier
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Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Revised
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Revised, Kymberley Doyle, 18-Feb-2025.
Revised, KK, 19-July-2020.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Carey, J. (2009). 'The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Queensland', The Australian Women's Register, National Foundation for Australian Women, accessed online 18-Feb-2025.
Maintenance notes
Revised with expanded history and source, Kymberley Doyle, 18-Feb-2025.
Revised with dates of existence and authority identifier, Kerri Klumpp, 19-July-2020.