Campbell, Ada

From Philosopedia

Campbell, Ada (c. 1855—1915?)

Campbell was an early Australian secularist and activist. Described as “a lady whose bold, outspoken, and fearless lectures have been the means of spreading Freedom of Thought,” she lectured widely on freethought subjects.

Although threatened in Wellington with prosecution for “charging on Sunday,” the Judge of Queensland ruled in her favor: “Lectures do not come under the head of amusements and therefore cannot legally be interfered with by any Government.”

An 1886 Otago Daily Times wrote that Campbell was “undoubtedly a very clever woman, with a powerful pleasant voice, considerable oratorical ability, and a neat form of mimicry” which “occasionally descended to the verge of vulgarity.”

{SWW}