I want to consolidate my "Random Women" posts before I do any more. I did stop for a while because I lost my list over summer. This is why I should write names down rather than keeping THEM in my head.
As a reminder, and for those that come in late, I am taking on the pervasive idea that women "in the past" only occupied limited roles as mothers, servants, whores or such, when reality was so much more complicated and interesting. (From my original post.)
Now I could talk about how working class women generally worked, or how wives were usually involved in running the family business or working on the family farm, or that the more genteel ladies might not have worked, but painted and wrote and took an interest in science or played a part in politics through their husbands. But I thought it might be more fun to show this.
So any time I come across a woman who ran a business, were involved in their community, had an adventure, were successful in a field out of the domestic realm or otherwise didn't fit the stereotype of the submissive, dependent wife and mother, then I write a post about them.
With three limitations.
1. That they grew up and spent a considerable part of their adult life within the Victorian period, or earlier (which generally means they have to be born before 1880, unless they died early)
2. I need to be able to do a post about them without spending hours piecing together bits from various sources.
2a. They haven't been written about by many people in many place already, because what is the point?
This I haven't written about Esther Solomon, despite finding interesting bits and pieces about her, and I haven't written about Jane Franklin (although there is a tag for her, because she is a very interesting women. Just no entry in this series.)
3. Where possible, I want to use source material written by their contemporaries.
Which usually means relying on obituaries. I'll supplement that with entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, or on databases on other websites, but these tend to be dry and lack whatever it is that makes the subject actually interesting, and give a modern view. I am more interested in how they were seen by people of their own time.
(Another problem is the Tasmanian focus, because that's where most of the material I deal with comes from. Those I know of from interstate invariably fall into the category of being written about in many place by many people. I would like to find some ordinary women from other states to include.)
Now a list of the entries I've done already, and I'm including some I did before I started this.
A trade unionist
A farmer who exhibited her cattle at the local show.
Conchologist, or does mollusc expert sound better?
A baby farmer & a serial killer
Innkeeper, and who says I can't use family.
Definitely need to include family
A list of 19th century female authors
Coach proprietor, all 15 pages of it.
Just generally interesting
Ladies of the bush, who says the girls can't have adventures)
A trainer and owner of race horses
Opera singer
Ignoring 2a for two prominent women
A collection of ads from one issue of Colonial Times, for women's businesses (and the proprietress of the Times).
As a reminder, and for those that come in late, I am taking on the pervasive idea that women "in the past" only occupied limited roles as mothers, servants, whores or such, when reality was so much more complicated and interesting. (From my original post.)
Now I could talk about how working class women generally worked, or how wives were usually involved in running the family business or working on the family farm, or that the more genteel ladies might not have worked, but painted and wrote and took an interest in science or played a part in politics through their husbands. But I thought it might be more fun to show this.
So any time I come across a woman who ran a business, were involved in their community, had an adventure, were successful in a field out of the domestic realm or otherwise didn't fit the stereotype of the submissive, dependent wife and mother, then I write a post about them.
With three limitations.
1. That they grew up and spent a considerable part of their adult life within the Victorian period, or earlier (which generally means they have to be born before 1880, unless they died early)
2. I need to be able to do a post about them without spending hours piecing together bits from various sources.
2a. They haven't been written about by many people in many place already, because what is the point?
This I haven't written about Esther Solomon, despite finding interesting bits and pieces about her, and I haven't written about Jane Franklin (although there is a tag for her, because she is a very interesting women. Just no entry in this series.)
3. Where possible, I want to use source material written by their contemporaries.
Which usually means relying on obituaries. I'll supplement that with entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, or on databases on other websites, but these tend to be dry and lack whatever it is that makes the subject actually interesting, and give a modern view. I am more interested in how they were seen by people of their own time.
(Another problem is the Tasmanian focus, because that's where most of the material I deal with comes from. Those I know of from interstate invariably fall into the category of being written about in many place by many people. I would like to find some ordinary women from other states to include.)
Now a list of the entries I've done already, and I'm including some I did before I started this.
A trade unionist
A farmer who exhibited her cattle at the local show.
Conchologist, or does mollusc expert sound better?
A baby farmer & a serial killer
Innkeeper, and who says I can't use family.
Definitely need to include family
A list of 19th century female authors
Coach proprietor, all 15 pages of it.
Just generally interesting
Ladies of the bush, who says the girls can't have adventures)
A trainer and owner of race horses
Opera singer
Ignoring 2a for two prominent women
A collection of ads from one issue of Colonial Times, for women's businesses (and the proprietress of the Times).
