Story: Family welfare

Mothers' Union

Mothers' Union

Mothers' Union members thought that women found most fulfillment in being effective mothers. They were largely middle-class women who did not have to engage in paid work to support their families. At the inaugural meeting of the Wellington branch of the Mothers' Union in 1893, women were invited to 'unite in prayer, and seek, by their own example, to lead their families in purity and holiness of life'. Groups like the Mothers’ Union supported state payments to widows so that they could continue to be full-time mothers.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Star, 3 January 1893, p. 3

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Maureen Baker and Rosemary Du Plessis, 'Family welfare - Mothers and children – 1800s to 1917', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/26074/mothers-union (accessed 27 April 2024)

Story by Maureen Baker and Rosemary Du Plessis, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 29 Jun 2018