Elizabeth Laurie (Bessie) Rees

Elizabeth Laurie Rees ( Johnston; 1865–1939) was an English-born Australian temperance and women's rights activist. She was a key leader in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria, serving twenty years as the general secretary. She also served in a variety of leadership roles for the national Australian WCTU, including treasurer, corresponding secretary, and national president. She was the inaugural editor of the national WCTU magazine, White Ribbon Signal.

A devoted Baptist, she co-founded the Victorian Baptist Women's Association with Cecilia Downing in 1925. In 1928, as president of the Victorian Baptist Women's Association, she attended the World Baptist Congress in Toronto, Canada, and was the only woman to lead devotions at the event. In 1935, Rees was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal for her work on temperance.

Early life and education Elizabeth Laurie Johnston was born on 18 December 1865 in London, England. Known by the nickname "Bessie", she was the daughter of Margaret (née Kirkcaldy) and Thomas Johnston. Her father was originally from Edinburgh, Scotland; at the time of Bessie's birth, he worked in England as a coach maker. When automobiles began to be used, he switched to building automobiles. Thomas and Margaret Johnston moved their family of three, John, Elizabeth and Anne Grey, to Australia in late 1870 aboard the Essex, arriving in Melbourne on 26 January 1871. A fourth child, Andrew Essex, was born en route to Australia. The family first lived in Castlemaine, Victoria, when Bessie was about four years old, and then to Hay, N.S.W. when Thomas' work with Cobb & Co was transferred. Bessie was the second oldest of seven children in the family, with her remaining three siblings, Jane Victoria, William Robert and Thomas Lyttleton, being born in Castlemaine. She was the only woman at the gathering to lead a devotional session.

Rees began her volunteer work with the W.C.T.U in her local branch, where she was an officer. She was then elected to the executive for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria, In 1913, she was elected general secretary of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria, and she remained in this role for twenty years, until 1933. From 1933 to 1936, she transitioned to the role of president of the state W.C.T.U., while also taking on a leading role at the national level. In 1936, she again took on the role of general secretary of the Victoria W.C.T.U. She was elected a life-president of the state WCTU in 1938.

Kindergartens She was a supporter of the free kindergarten movement. She collaborated with Fanny Maud Wilson and other women from the Collins Baptist Church to found the Bouvarie Street Kindergarten, held in the Baptist Mission in Melbourne. Rees served some years as president of the kindergarten. In 1908, the Free Kindergarten Union of Victoria was established to help support the kindergarten movement and to establish standards for the training of kindergarten teachers. Rees was a member of the union's executive. In 1930, Rees began serving on the children's court as a magistrate. She served as a W.C.T.U. delegate for the Slum Abolition Committee, which advocated for improving the housing conditions for the poor in Melbourne, and the Traveller's Aid Society, which provided assistance to single women who were traveling to Australia.

Rees was also the WCTU representative on the executive committee of Victoria's League of Nations Union, a group established in Melbourne in 1921 to support the newly formed League of Nations, now known as the United Nations; Rees' term began in 1929. In the fall of 1930, she participated in a peace demonstration organized by the Victorian Women Citizens' Movement, again representing the WCTU. Upon her return, she gave several lectures and shared her reflections on the benefits of the ban on liquor in the United States. Like his wife, he was very active in the Baptist church, and served as president of the Baptist Union of Victoria.

Death and legacy Rees died unexpectedly on 19 March 1939, at the age of 73, after attending Sunday services at the Baptist church in Auburn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Her funeral was held at Collins Street Baptist Church and was well attended. Mrs. Griffith Lloyd, the president of the Australian WCTU, spoke on behalf of the organization. Rees was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.

In her memory, a memorial gift of a Cloisoinée bowl was given to the Bouverie Street free kindergarten by supporters and friends.

A collection of her papers are held at the University of Melbourne Archives, as part of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Victoria collection.