The first ever full-length defence of women’s church leadership has been republished in modern English as part of Women’s History Month.
Women’s Speaking Justified was written in 1666 by Quaker co-founder Margaret Fell whilst jailed for her beliefs in Lancaster. She used the time to work through the entire Bible, showing how there are examples of female leadership throughout it.
Although there were examples of other female preachers both at that time and before it, Margaret Fell’s tract was the first full-length treatment of the subject in English.
Despite her vocation, Fell was never formally ordained as a minister as this is not a practice Quakers have. Fellow nonconformist Constance Coltman, a Congregationalist, became the first woman to be ordained into a British mainstream Christian denomination in 1917.
The first woman to be ordained in Australia was also a Congregationalist (now part of the Uniting Church), Winifred Kiek, in 1927 (pictured above). She grew up in Manchester in a Quaker family.
Anglican women in Australia won the right to become priests in 1992 shortly ahead of the Church of England who began ordaining women as priests in 1994 and as bishops in 2015. In this context the enthronement of the first ever female Archbishop of Canterbury in 2026 is historic.
Welcoming the book, the University of Edinburgh’s Chair of Divinity Rachel Muers (also the first ever woman to hold the role) said: “Fell is an ‘elder sister’ whom today’s female Christian leaders need, as they pursue their vocations in the face of resurgent global patriarchy. Paul Anderson’s new translation brings her insights to a contemporary audience.”
To recognise the historic connection, a copy of the new edition of Margaret Fell’s Women’s Speaking Justified will be gifted by the Friends World Committee to the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology (previously Parkin College) which counts Edward Kiek as a past principal.
Women’s History Month 2026 is themed “Women Leading the Change”.
Ruby Cumming, Communications Manager
