Fanny was born Fanny Matthews, on 24 May 1861 in Glasgow, Scotland, of English parents. She emigrated with her parents and siblings to Oamaru, New Zealand in 1879; Fanny later emigrated to Australia in early 1890 in order to marry Thomas Fryer. Fanny was 33 when she came to the Northern Territory on 20 January 1890 with her husband Thomas, who worked as a blacksmith with the railway. They lived at the 2 1/2 mile railway camp. All six of their children were born in Darwin: John Richard Fryer on 27 May 1891; Constance Agnes Fryer on 24 March 1896; Ethel May Fryer on 8 June 1899; Frederick Darwin Fryer on 19 June 1901; Alice Irene Fryer on 14 July 1903 and George Edward Fryer on 14 June 1905. Fanny became one of the 82 Territory women who enrolled to vote after the franchise was granted to South Australian and Territory women in 1894. On the electoral roll she is registered as married at Palmerston. Her second child died of meningitis in 1900. The family left Darwin on 10 December 1907 and moved to Prospect, South Australia, the move prompted by their eldest son contracting Malaria. Fanny died there on 15 July 1913 aged 52.,
Subject
Women,
Suffrage,
Northern Territory,
History,
Related links
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21594603 [James, Barbara, Helen J. Wilson, and Joanne Van Os. Occupation, Citizen : The Story of Northern Territory Women and the Vote (1894-96). Darwin, N.T.: B. James, 1995.],