For the first time in Ballarat, and indeed anywhere outside of Melbourne, this huge roll of paper and linen went on display to the public. It can be viewed at MADE for several months until January 2015, courtesy of the Keeper of Public Records of Victoria. As guest of honour the Hon. Heidi Victoria MP, Minister of the Arts and Women’s Affairs, spoke about the connection between the struggle for democratic rights at Eureka and the campaign a generation later to secure the right of women to vote in elections. The petition was signed by about 30,000 women of Victoria in just six weeks.
Ballarat & District Genealogical Society was represented by Joan Hunt, one of the original transcribers of the petition, Jennifer Burrell and Carmel Reynen. The Society was mentioned favourably in all speeches by dignitaries for its work in researching the women of Ballarat who placed their signatures and addresses on the paper in 1891. By using street directories of the time, indexes to births, deaths and marriages, and cemetery records we are endeavouring to place these women in the context of their families. Any knowledge of these women which can be shared would be most welcome. Please email
