Jessie Forsyth

Jessie Forsyth (1847/49 – 1937) was a British-American temperance advocate. She joined the International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT) in London in 1872, relocated to New England for decades, and celebrated her Jubilee while residing in Western Australia. During her 50 years membership, Forsyth filled many important offices, including 15 years as International Superintendent of Juvenile Templars, in the course of which she visited jurisdictions in Great Britain, the United States and Canada and many parts of continental Europe. She edited the International Good Templar Magazine for eight years and, at different times, did the editorial work on seven other temperance publications, in addition to being a contributor of short stories and poems to newspapers and magazines.

Early life and education

Jessie Forsyth was born in London, England, (While Fahey (1988) records her birth year as 1847, Leonard & Marquis (1908) and Cherrington (1926) record her birth date as April 29, 1849.) Her parents were Andrew and Eliza Maria (Kitteridge) Forsyth (1818-1862); Eliza's uncle was George Cruikshank. Jessie was orphaned at the age of 15. Her siblings included a brother, George Andrew Duncan Forsyth,

Forsyth was educated in a private school in London. She learned the numbering business in that city. She served as vice-president at the Anti-Alcohol Congress in Budapest, 1905. in the 1880s, and then took charge of The Massachusetts Templar, and later, the International Good Templar (1901-1908).

Western Australia

In 1911, Jessie, Maria, and Maria's husband, Thomas Smith, yielded to the brotherly persuasions of George, for many years, Harbor Master at Fremantle, to settle in Western Australia.

Selected works The Collected Writings of Jessie Forsyth, 1847-1937: The Good Templars and Temperance Reform on Three Continents, 1988