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Women today accept their right to vote as a given, but in Queensland in 1859 this was far from the case. Men were the only Members of Parliament and only men had the right to vote, a privilege based on the amount of property they owned.
Men serving in the police or army, women and others deemed to be of an “unsound mind”, were excluded from the electoral process, and had no input into how the State was governed.
One of the most significant players in the move for the female vote was Emma Miller. Born in England, Miller moved to Brisbane in 1879 at the age of 39. She became a member of the suffragist movement and was the first President of the Women’s Equal Franchise Association, campaigning for the female vote under the banner, “one woman, one vote”.
The efforts of Miller and her sisterhood were rewarded in 1905 when Queensland women were eventually granted the right to vote.
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 | Irene Longman’s name on the electoral roll for Drayton and Toowoomba, 15 October 1906. Mrs Longman later became the first female member of the Queensland Parliament.
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1171268, Digital Image ID 3087 State Electoral Office
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 | 1905 Einstein put forward the Theory of Relativity |
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