Ringwood Historical Society – Melbourne's early history

Published by Alex Makin on Monday 22nd of June, 2009

Tonight’s Ringwood Historical Society meeting discussed Anne Lister and her role in the early women’s suffrage movement for Australia. In 1893 Anne assisted in the formation of the United Council for Women’s Suffrage and began giving public lectures on the movement from 1895.

While she is currently not as well known as other women involved in the suffrage movement, Anne was extremely prominent in the campaign for women’s voting rights and gave an extremely well regarded address at the National American Convention on Women’s Suffrage in Washington DC in 1904.

The second speaker at tonight’s meeting discussed Melbourne’s early water infrastructure, which consisted of lead piping and concrete. The techniques required in repairing and constructing these pipes were discussed, as was the history of the former Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works, which oversaw the maintenance and delivery of this infrastructure.