Rosetta Jane Birks

Rosetta Jane "Rose" Birks (1856–1911) was a social reformer and philanthropist who played a key role in South Australian women's suffrage.

Birks née Thomas was born in Adelaide, South Australia on 12 March 1856 to English-born parents William Kyffin Thomas, proprietor of the Observer and Register newspapers, and his wife Mary Jane Thomas, née Good. Known to her family as Rose, Birks was heavily involved in the Flinders Street Baptist Church in Adelaide that her father helped establish.

In 1879 Birks married her sister's widower, wealthy Baptist merchant Charles Napier Birks and became the stepmother to her six nieces and nephews.

Philanthropy Throughout her life Birks was involved in advancing women's rights and the welfare and social issues of the day.

In 1902 Birks helped to found and became vice-president of the South Australian branch of the National Council of Women of Australia with fellow suffragist Mary Lee.

Death Committed to her church until the end, Birks collapsed and died of myocarditis while addressing a meeting of the College Park Congregational Church in Adelaide on 3 October 1911.