Category: Women and Conscription

Sarah Jane (Jennie) Baines (1866-1951) was a radical feminist and socialist who was a significant force in the anti-conscription movement in Melbourne and in the demonstrations that led to the so-called 'food riots' of 1917. She was a fearless campaigner, who was imprisoned on many occasions during her lifetime, and in 1919 was thought to be the first prisoner to go on a hunger-strike in a Victorian prison. Jennie Baines grew up in Birmingham in England.  Her first job, aged only 11, was in an ordnance factory, but she later joined the Salvation Army and became a successful missionary. She joined the temperance movement and the Independent Labour Party. In 1888 she married boot maker George Baines and bore him five children between 1890 and 1899. When her youngest child was about five, Baines joined the Pankhursts' Women's Social and Political Union and began to campaign for women's suffrage.  She became a full-time organizer in 1908, travelling to organise meetings and marches and to form...