13 Facts About Catherine Fulton

Catherine Henrietta Elliot Fulton was a New Zealand diarist, community leader, philanthropist, social reformer and suffragist.

Catherine Fulton was a founding member of the Dunedin chapter of Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand in 1885 and national president of the WCTU NZ from 1889 to 1892.

Catherine Fulton was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire or in Reading, Berkshire, England on 19 December 1829.

Catherine Fulton was educated in England and arrived in New Zealand on the Ajax in January 1849.

Catherine Fulton married James Catherine Fulton in 1852 and moved to his farm "Ravenscliffe" on the Taieri Plains, Otago.

The Fultons hosted Presbyterian church services in their house in the early days, and Catherine Fulton taught Sunday school and Bible classes.

Catherine Fulton was the national President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand from 1889 to 1892.

Catherine Fulton had worked with the American WCTU missionary Mary C Leavitt to found the Dunedin branch in May 1885 and was its first President.

At the first national convention of the WCTU NZ in 1886, Catherine Fulton announced that the Dunedin Union had opened the Leavitt House to offer a meeting place for their activities with youth who had signed the temperance pledge.

Catherine Fulton was a strong advocate for women's suffrage and included in her diaries her frustration with politicians who opposed it.

In 1879, James Catherine Fulton was elected to the House of Representatives, and in 1889 was appointed to the Legislative Council.

Catherine Fulton presented to the Upper House a WCTU NZ petition for Women's Franchise that his wife had organised in 1891 - over 10,000 signatures.

Catherine Fulton attended the council sessions daily, along with the wives of other parliamentarians, to follow the passage of the Women's Suffrage bill through Parliament, but it failed that year.