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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Governess or Lady Help?

GOVERNESS OR LADY HELP ? TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS. Sir,–I belong to that unhappy class of persons known as governesses, where every accomplishment is required, and the salary is, with few exceptions, what a good cook would decline to take. If a lady can teach English, music, singing, French, Latin, Italian, German, &c.,…

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On the trail of the lady detective

Lady detectives seem to have come late to Australia. The concept of them was known throughmost of the Victorian era, as they were subject of some popular novels, including Revelations of a Lady Detective  (1864) which was advertised, widely, for many, many, many years in regional Australian newspapers. (It made searching… fun.) Tracing them was also…

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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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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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Servants Training Insitute

This article in the Illustrated Australian News was accompanied by a full page illustration, which is also available at the State LIbrary of Victoria. It is from this that the illustrations above and below come. (The second article was not illustrated. I’ve just combined it with the illustrations from the first because they fit better.)…

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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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Dr Stone & Dr Berne

Constance Stone: first women registered as a doctor in Australia Studied USA, Canada & UK. Returned to Victoria & was registered 1890. Established Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne, operated “by women, for women”. Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) Wikipedia East Melbourne Historical Society: the life of Constance Stone (PDF) Australian Women’s Register (AWR) Index of…

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Alice Henry

ALICE HENRY and HER TIMES When Alice Henry died, public interest was taken up with World War II. Her work in Australia was practically forgotten, her real career had been in America. Few Australians realised what part she had played in shaping those two countries as they are to-day Too few Melbourne people know of…

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Annie Lowe

A lot of words associated with Annie Lowe but few images. Also few links compared to her colleagues. Australian Women’s Register Entry on 1891 Women’s Suffrage Petition website [Extract] Mrs Lowe pointed to a small photo graph group on her drawing-room wall. “There,’ she said, “Is a portrait group of the committee of the first Women’s Suffrage…

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