Sheriff Bain became a teacher in 1879 and was a strong campaigner for equality for women teachers, who were often paid half the salary of male teachers. She was a passionate advocate for peace and arbitration, and presented a number of papers on these topics at conventions and meetings. She was particularly opposed to the
Boer War and in 1900 delivered a strong anti-war speech at the conference of the National Council of Women. In 1901 she was elected New Zealand's representative on the
International Council of Women's standing committee on peace and arbitration. In 1904 attended the ICW's Berlin conference, followed by the Thirteenth Universal Peace and Arbitration Congress in Boston, U.S. From 1909 to 1913, Sheriff Bain lived in
Riverton and worked as a journalist. She campaigned against compulsory military training, which New Zealand had introduced in 1909, and organised the Aparima Peace Union and, in Invercargill, the Women's Peace Society. She was also interested in issues of gender equality, equal pay, women jurors, prison reform and workers' rights. In her 70s, Sheriff Bain had two books published in England: an anthology of poems,
From Zealandia, and a novel,
Service: a New Zealand story. Sheriff Bain died in Auckland aged 95 on 26 January 1944. == Personal life ==