NICHOLLS, ELIZABETH WEBB (1850-1943), social reformer, was born on 21 February
1850 at Rundle Street, Adelaide, eldest daughter of Samuel Bakewell, grocer, and
his first wife Mary Ann, née Pye. When Elizabeth was 3 her mother died and she
spent several years in England with relatives. Her father married his
sister-in-law Eliza Hannah Pye in 1854 and the family settled in Adelaide. Prone
to chafe quietly at 'unreasonable restraint', Elizabeth longed for 'the will and
power to be useful'. Both her father and uncle William Bakewell became members of
the House of Assembly. She married fellow Methodist Alfred Richard Nicholls,
warehouseman, on 2 August 1870; they had a daughter and four sons and raised two
orphaned relatives.
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Elizabeth Webb Nicholls was born in Adelaide to Mary and Samuel Bakewell in 1850. She joined the Christian Woman's Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1886, and was elected provisional president in 1888. In 1889 she became Colonial president, a position she held until 1897. From 1894-1903 she was the Union's Australian President, and post-Federation, she served as State President from 1906 to 1927. She joined the South Australian Women's Suffrage League and subsequently became a League Councillor. In 1894 Elizabeth Nicholls assumed the role of Colonial Superintendent of the WCTU's Suffrage Department. She was appointed to the Board of the Adelaide Hospital from 1895-1922 and was a justice of the peace - one of the four first women - from 1915. She died in 1943
Elizabeth Webb Nicholls was born in Adelaide to Mary and Samuel Bakewell in 1850. She married Alfred Nicholls in 1870, and had five children as well as bringing up two orphaned relatives. She joined the Christian Woman's Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1886, and was elected provisional president in 1888. In 1889 she became Colonial president, a position she held until 1897. From 1894-1903 she was the Union's Australian President, and post-Federation, she served as State President from 1906 to 1927. She probably joined the South Australian Women's Suffrage League in early 1889 and later became a League Councillor. It was under her leadership that the WCTU gained 8,000 of the 11,600 signatures for the League's 1894 petition to Parliament. Following the submission of the petition, Elizabeth Nicholls took on the role of Colonial Superintendent of the WCTU's Suffrage Department. The legislation granting suffrage to women was passed in December 1894, and she then travelled around Adelaide and country South Australia giving talks about how to enrol and vote. Her 'Platform and Principles' is an example of her straightforward approach. From 1895-1922 she served on the Board of the Adelaide Hospital and was a justice of the peace - one of the four first women - from 1915. In addition she was actively involved with the Women's Non-Party Political Association and assisted Bessie Rischbieth to form the Australian Federation of Women's Societies (later known as the Australian Federation of Women Voters) in 1922. She died in 1943
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