This book brings to light the remarkable life of Bessie, a self- educated working-class woman who rose from a difficult childhood in colonial Victoria to become one of the most formidable reformers of her generation. A dazzling speaker, tireless organiser, and international campaigner, Bessie stood at the forefront of the temperance, suffrage, and social purity movements in Australia and beyond. Moving from the goldfields of Victoria to the public halls of Melbourne, the mission networks of Britain, and reform platforms across New Zealand, North America, and the Pacific, this biography traces how Bessie fashioned herself into a public force of extraordinary conviction and flair. In doing so, Jennifer Caligari reveals the central role women like Bessie played in shaping political, religious, and social change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
