100 Years of Disappointed, Disgruntled, Discredited Husbands
Jan 2
Maria Lord
As time passes, most people fade into obscurity. Their names are forgotten, unless something is named after them or someone passes by their headstone. Their existence is forgotten until an ancestor digs them up (not literally, I hope), or a researcher starts poking around in the history of a place or object. Some people though…
Read More
Dec 31
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…
Read More
Dec 17
Mary Sullivan: female searcher
Adelaide Observer, 7 December 1872 Express & Telegraph, 1 August 1873 South Australian Register, 14 November 1873 Express & Telegraph, 31 January 1873 South Australian Chronicle, 21 November 1874 South Australian Chronicle, 4 November 1874 Express & Telegraph, 17 May 1882 Adelaide Observer, 23 July 1892 South Australian Register, 1 August 1893
Read More
Dec 17
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.)…
Read More
Dec 3
Mrs Spearman
Most obituaries about business women focus on their activities after the death of the husband. This one talks about her involvement in the business alongside him. ANOTHER old colonist was yesterday removed by death in the person of Mrs Mary Ann Spearman, of Landale-street, Invermay. The deceased lady was the widow of the late Mr…
Read More
Nov 16
Miss Beeton
This necklace of king maireener shells on two-stranded linen thread was probably given to James Peppiatt, the proprietor of the Old Brisbane Hotel in Launceston, by its maker Lucy Beeton. She was the daughter of Thomas (John) Beeton and Emmerenna (Tralwoolway Clan) Necklace & caption from The First Tasmanians: Our story gallery at the Queen…
Read More
Oct 26
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…
Read More
Oct 15
Vulcana: strong woman
The Evening Star, 7 November 1903 Vulcana and Atlas, the athletes who presented a unique and graceful weight lifting entertainment at the Miners’ Institute with the Rickards Co., are Welsh, and have always been strong. Vulcana is just out of her teens, is about 5ft. 4in. in height and weighs 10st. 10lb. Atlas, her brother,…
Read More
Aug 20
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…
Read More
Jul 29
Midwives, 1820-1840
Hobart Town Gazette, 21 September 1822 These are first advertisements that I found for female midwives. They first appear in Hobart and in NSW in the late 1830s. (There is an earlier ad for a “surgeon & man midwife in 1819). They are interesting in the amount of information given about the advertisers: credentials, background, testimonials. Compare to advertisements…
Read More