A British suffragette's plan to establish a women's farming colony ended with a stay in an insane asylum, documents found at the State Records Office of Western Australia have revealed.

The woman's story was told in more than 400 mostly handwritten papers, which passed through the hands of senior archivists before coming to the attention of historians at the University of Western Australia.

The documents from the Department of Lands and Surveys show that a group of British suffragettes and landowners planned to secure and subdivide farms on WA's south coast to sponsor single, middle-class women to emigrate from Britain.

The plan was sensationalised by international media at the time as bringing a utopian 'Adamless Eden' to WA's south coast.

But it was not until UWA Honours graduate Miriam Crandell investigated the archive that the full story came to light.

"At the time, British women did not have the right to vote, and single, middle-class women were emigrating away from England to other colonies," Ms Crandell said.

It was in this climate that artist and writer Emily Crawford founded the Householders' League, a group of suffragettes and landowners interested in women's rights.

The League's vision was to found a community where women had the right to vote and manage their own businesses.

In Western Australia, where women were granted the right to vote in 1899, the allure of free land grants and the proximity to export markets made the state's south coast the ideal location.

"Crawford believed WA was an attractive place to invest for the wealthy members. And for the middle-class female settlers, it was a place they could be in control of their own lives," Ms Crandell said.

In 1909, the Perth publication Daily News described Ms Crawford's plans for an Adamless Eden. ( Supplied: Miriam Crandell )

English-speaking world at a crossroad

Back in England, Ms Crawford had sought fame and notoriety as a painter, but argued that women in the arts were denied the recognition they deserved.

She lived in a Britain that was exploding from the inside.

"The suffragettes in the United Kingdom were increasingly known as militant groups, pushing for women's right to vote through increasingly radical means," Wesfarmers chair in Australian history Jane Lydon said.

"They made a point of not targeting people, not taking lives. But they were known for arson attacks, smashing of property, mass hunger strikes."

Paradoxically, pressure was mounting on the UK parliament from women in its former colonies who had gained the right to vote.

"Women from places where they had rights tried to increase political momentum in Britain for women to be given the vote," Professor Lydon said.

In early 1908, Ms Crawford made the journey from Britain to WA and was shown to the south coast town of Denmark, a formerly prosperous timber town that had seen its population and economic activity decline.

"She wanted it to be somewhere women would have control over their lives," Ms Crandell said.

The Department of Lands and Surveys drew up a detailed map for the Householders' League's planned settlement on Wilson Inlet, but only Ms Crawford would ever take possession of land.

The Householders' League drew up a detailed map for the planned colony at Wilson Inlet in south-west WA. ( Supplied: Miriam Crandell )

"When a list of selectors was provided to the WA government, it was noticed that many of them were married women," Ms Crandell said.

"Only males over 18 or the head of a household were eligible for free land. A married woman was ineligible because the husband was automatically the head of the household."

The Householders' League was told it could have the land, but would have to pay for it.

It proved to be the first major stumbling block for the proposal.

Ms Crawford became concerned that the unequal treatment of married women might cause them to withdraw their financial support and end the plan before it began.

"She didn't think that was good enough. They wanted to come to WA because they thought they would be treated equally here," Ms Crandell said.

The contemporary view from Wilson Inlet, where Ms Crawford planned to establish the colony. ( Supplied: Miriam Crandell )

Breakdown impacts scheme's momentum

By July 1908, Ms Crawford suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to the Claremont Hospital for the Insane.

Her symptoms were described as "acute mania", and included seeing lights and talking to people who did not exist.

"At the time, women were considered irrational and prone to hysteria, and her breakdown certainly impacted the momentum of the scheme," Ms Crandell said.

"The government officers had suggested that Crawford was ruled by her emotions and they were not fully convinced the plan was practical."

Ms Crawford was admitted to Claremont Hospital for the Insane with "acute mania". ( Supplied: Miriam Crandell )

After two months, Ms Crawford was released from the asylum and returned to Britain.

She continued to lobby for the proposal, but her relationship with the WA Government was declining.

In September 1909, Perth's Daily News published its own version of an international newspaper article under the headline Adamless Eden.

The story falsely recounted that "no man will be allowed to own a share of stock or rood of land or to hold any office" in Ms Crawford's settlement.

"Crawford felt her group was being treated unfairly," Ms Crandell said.

"She started badmouthing the WA government and threatened to expose their opposition to the plan."

By 1911, the Householders' League's applications were formally cancelled by the WA government and Ms Crawford's final effort to restart the process was ignored.

Ms Crawford passed away in relative obscurity in 1919 — the year after property-owning women over the age of 30 received the right to vote in Britain. The vote would be extended to all women in Britain in 1928.