People Australia

  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites
  • searches all National Centre of Biography websites

Browse People:

Browse Lists:

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Older articles are being reviewed with a view to bringing them into line with contemporary values but the original text will remain available for historical context.

Edith Bethel (1871–1929)

This article was published:

Edith Bethel, 1915

Edith Bethel, 1915

Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 24 March 1915, p 6

Edith Bethel, nee Clarke (1871-1929) political activist

Birth: 1 March 1871 at Bowen, Queensland, daughter of William Clarke (1835-1918), an accountant and sometime mayor born at Duncannon, County Wexford, Ireland, and Mary Sophia, née Edkins (1844-1933), born at Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. Marriage: 5 July 1895 at Mosman Congregational Church to Sydney-born Walter Edmund Bethel (1863-1941), a public servant. They had one daughter. The marriage ended in divorce in 1919. Death: 21 December 1929 in a private hospital at Mosman, Sydney. Religion: buried with Anglican rites. 

  • Tutored by J. Doddie, BA, Edith “acquired a good mental grasp of economic questions in the school of experience and sympathy”.
  • In 1904 she was a founder of the Labor Women's Organising Committee, of which she became honorary secretary. She was an executive member of the Political Labor League NSW in 1904-1908.
  • An active worker for the Australian Labor Party in 1913-1915, she shifted to become a prominent pro-conscriptionist and Nationalist supporter in 1916.
  • From 1917 to 1923 she was a member of the council of the Nationalist Association. In 1923 she was appointed justice of the peace.
  • Cause of death: cerebral haemorrhage. 

Sources
H. J. Gibbney & Ann G. Smith A Biographical Register 1788-1939, vol 1 (Canberra, 1987), p 55; Worker (Wagga), 26 November 1904.

This person appears as a part of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Supplement. [View Article]

Additional Resources and Scholarship

  • profile, Worker (Wagga, NSW), 26 November 1904, p 4
  • profile, Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 24 March 1915, p 6

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Bethel, Edith (1871–1929)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/bethel-edith-12795/text44665, accessed 10 February 2026.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Edith Bethel, 1915

Edith Bethel, 1915

Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 24 March 1915, p 6

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Clarke, Edith
Birth

1 March, 1871
Bowen, Queensland, Australia

Death

21 December, 1929 (aged 58)
Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

stroke

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Organisations
Political Activism