Margaret MCLEAN

MCLEAN, MARGARET (née ARNOT) (b. Irvine, Scotland, 23 Nov 1845; d. Malvern, Vic, 14 Feb 1923). Temperance feminist.

Arriving with her parents from Ayrshire in April 1849, Margaret Arnot attended school at the Anglican Cathedral Church of St James, Melbourne and eventually became a teacher. The family was associated with the Collins St Baptist Church, where she was baptised in 1866. In 1869 she married William McLean (q.v.). Of their 11 children, two served as missionaries in India: Hilda (1879-1938) and Alice (1884-1949) and a third became a medical doctor (Mrs Lorraine Barber). Mrs McLean was involved in her husband's Christian service, and for lengthy periods was leader of young women's Bible classes at Abbotsford and later Armadale. A gracious hostess, she frequently entertained ministers, fellow workers and visiting Christian leaders.

Her interests extended beyond her local church and denomination. Concern for the well-being of women and children induced her to participate in the formation of the Victorian WCTU in November 1887. She was the first president of the Melbourne Union, and competent lieutenant of the Victorian president, Mrs Mary Love. Each month, executive meetings were held at 'Torloisk', her East Melbourne home. On Mrs Love's return to America, she assumed Victorian leadership (1892-3), resigning apparently because of her husband's business difficulties in depression years. But she remained active and was reelected president in 1899, holding office until after William McLean's death. She was then honoured as honorary life vice-president.

She and her colleagues were not, as often represented, fanatical teetotallers. They considered that an abuse of liquor lay at the root of much poverty, crime, immorality and domestic violence. Aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, they soon advocated women's suffrage. An address of Mrs McLean on the subject was circulated in 1890. She followed this by two pamphlets: Womanhood Suffrage, and More About Woman Suffrage. Within ten weeks 30 000 signatures to a petition for women's franchise were in 1891 presented to the Vic parliament, but it was slow to respond, granting the right only in 1908. The endeavour to raise the age of consent from 12 was more successful. During the depression years of the 1890s, the Union not only provided relief for needy families, but highlighted the plight of women workers. In l 893 they made a plea for equal pay for women. There were protests against the prevalence of 'sweating' and a call for female factory inspectors. Learning that some 40 women were arrested each week, Mrs McLean in 1897 led a delegation to the Chief Commissioner of Police urging the appointment of women police and facilities for females at lock-ups.

Mrs McLean knew at first hand the plight of such women. She visited gaols, police courts and public houses, and spent whole nights in slum areas, trying to assist and protect young women. Seeking support of a wider constituency, in March 1902 she moved the resolution which brought the National Council of Women into being in Victoria.

She was a gracious, able yet determined leader, winning the love of those who worked with her. When at a world conference of the WCTU at Edinburgh in 1900, she was chosen to speak in churches and led an evening service at St Giles' Cathedral. She moved to Malvern after her husband's death and transferred to the Armadale Baptist Church, continuing her young women's Bible class to the end, even though failing sight made the task very difficult.

H Carnegie, The Barber Family Chronicle (MS in Baptist Union Archives, Hawthorn, Victoria); I McCorkindale, Pioneer Pathways (Melbourne, 1948)

BASIL S BROWN