10 Facts About Maybanke Anderson

Maybanke Anderson was the daughter of Henry Selfe, a plumber, and his wife Elizabeth, and was the sister of Norman Selfe and a cousin of Eadward Muybridge, who migrated to the United States in 1850.

Maybanke Anderson's family migrated to Australia as free settlers in January 1855 when she was nine years old.

Twelve years later in September 1867, Maybanke Anderson married Edmund Kay Wolstenholme, a timber merchant.

In 1885 Maybanke Anderson opened Maybanke Anderson School, a girls' school that she operated in her home preparing girls for the University of Sydney entrance examination.

In 1893 Maybanke Anderson was elected to the WSL presidency, and founded the Australasian Home Reading Union in the same year.

In 1894, Maybanke Anderson began publishing the fortnightly newspaper Woman's Voice.

The WSL's attempts to have suffrage implemented by the New South Wales government were not fruitful; however, in 1897, Maybanke Anderson decided to petition the 1897 Federal Convention in Adelaide.

Maybanke Anderson was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001 in recognition of her achievements.

In 1899, Maybanke married her second husband, Sir Francis Anderson.

Maybanke Anderson died in St Germain-en-Laye, Paris on 15 April 1927.