Lizzie Frost Rattray (née Fenton, 22 March 1855 – 12 August 1931) was a New Zealand journalist, suffragist and welfare worker.

Life

Rattray was born on 22 March 1855 in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand to Mary Lister and Archdeacon John Albert Fenton. Her family returned to Europe for the children's education. After their return to New Zealand Lizzie married William Rattray a prosperous Auckland draper. After initial interest in charity work for the St John Ambulance, Lizzie moved on to suffrage and other feminist causes, using her position as a journalist to get her message heard. Writing for the Gentlewoman and the New Zealand Graphic she wrote about employment, education and the franchise. She was elected to the Women's Franchise League and instrumental in opening membership to men.

Lizzie Rattray

Rattray died on 12 August 1931 in Parnell, New Zealand.

Lizzie Rattray

Legacy

Rattray appears in a 1993 suffrage mural created to celebrate 100 years of women having the vote in New Zealand.

Lizzie Rattray

References

1855 births

1931 deaths

New Zealand journalists

New Zealand suffragists

Writers from Dunedin

20th-century New Zealand women writers

New Zealand women journalists

19th-century New Zealand writers