Mrs Kinsman

“Mrs. Fillia Kinsman and her coach,” State Library of South Australia Poor Mrs Kinsman was thus left to fight her own way in life, mysteriously bereft of her husband. With the little money she had, she purchased some cows and sold milk and butter. She realised that there was an opening for a passenger conveyance…

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Feather Curlers & Cleaners

Sydney Gazette, 11 August 1825 Not an occupation I can find out much about. Feather curlers were used by milliners to produce suitable feathers for their hats. However, if you read down through these advertisements you’ll see they’re offering a different, if related, service. Bearing in mind here, hats were necessary fashion accessory, and if…

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100 Years of Disappointed, Disgruntled, Discredited Husbands

Sydney Gazette, 16 October 1803 Sydney Gazette, 19 June 1808 Sydney Gazette, 12 February 1810 Hobart Town Gazette, 19 October 1816 Hobart Town Gazette, 12 August 1820 Sydney Gazette, 16 October 1823 Sydney Gazette, 23 October 1823 Sydney Gazette, 9 January 1826 The Australian, 10 September 1828 Sydney Monitor, 20 September 1828 Sydney Gazette, 21…

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Mrs Durham

Cornwall Chronicle, 19 May 1860 Launceston Examiner, 2 June 1959 Launceston Examiner, 9 March 1861

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Victorian Classified Advertisements

Some potential employers have low requirements 🙂 A trawl through the advertisements in the Argus, 14 November 1860 TUTORS, GOVERNESSES, CLERKS etc SERVANTS DOMESTIC SERVANTS. (To the Editor of the Star.) SIR,-Your leader on the above subject demands the serious attention of heads of families. There can be no doubt that all the evils and inconveniences…

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Mrs Butterworth

It would be easy to fill these page with hotel keepers, for I come across many of them in my Launceston Hotel project. It was a common occupation for women, and the licensing board, at least in Launceston, preferred married couples, although the case was sometimes argued for a young, single male on the basis…

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Whereas My Husband… Or, What’s Good For Gander

Sydney Gazette, 28 July 1821 This is sequel to 100 Years of Disappointed, Disgruntled, Discredited Husbands. I have transcribed the longer advertisements/letters where the text might be too small to read and included the image, except where it’s an ongoing debate wherein I have just included the text. TO THE PUBLIC.— WHEREAS Mr. Thomas Arkell…

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The Ladies’ Velocipede Race

1869, and velocipede racing, indeed velocipedes themselves, was very much the novelty, having originated in Paris not long before, and their entertainment value was a good way to draw large crowds to sporting events. The first velocipede race in Victoria was at the MCG in July 1869. The bicycles, as shown in that link, seemed…

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Grace Egerton & the Protean Cabinet

ODDS AND ENDS. The large hall of the Mechanics Institute was crowded again on Thursday: evening, when Mr. and Mrs. George Case gave another of their pleasing entertainments, entitled “Odds and Ends.” At the rising of the curtain Mr. Case, with a sorrowful expression of countenance, is bewailing his indisposition, which is attended with an…

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Eliza

The Argus, 14 November 1853 Eliza Perrin/Robson, an “ordinary” woman of the Ballarat diggings. Eliza Hobson was born in Cheshire, England in 1829. In 1851, she married John Perrin in West Yorkshire, just months before he sailed to the goldfields to seek his fortune. A year later, and with her young baby daughter at her…

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