Rosetta Jane Birks
Australian suffragist
Rosetta Jane "Rose" Birks (1856–1911) was a social reformer and philanthropist who played a key role in South Australian women's suffrage.
Birks née Thomas was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 12 March 1856 to English-born parents William Kyffin Thomas, proprietor of the Observer and Register newspapers, and his wife Mary Jane Thomas, née Good. Known to her family as Rose, Birks was heavily involved in the Flinders Street Baptist Church in Adelaide that her father helped establish.
In 1879 Birks married her sister's widower, wealthy Baptist merchant Charles Napier Birks and became the stepmother to her six nieces and nephews. The Birks family would later establish the Charles Birks & Co department store in Rundle Street, Adelaide.
Philanthropy
Throughout her life Birks was involved in advancing women's rights and the welfare and social issues of the day. Birks presided over several Baptist women's associations including a mothers' union and a women's guild which she established to provide a support network to working women members of her church.
In 1882 Birks joined the predecessor of the Women's Suffrage League, the Ladies' Social Purity Society, taking the role of treasurer.
Following South Australian women's enfranchisement, Birks joined the Woman's League committee and was among the earliest women appointed to the Adelaide Hospital board and the Queen Victoria Maternity Home board.
In 1902 Birks helped to found and became vice-president of the South Australian branch of the National Council of Women of Australia with fellow suffragist Mary Lee.
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