Difference between revisions of "Women of Eureka"
Dottigee16 (talk | contribs) |
Dottigee16 (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
It was not until Laurel Johnson wrote about the ''Women of Eureka'' that they began to stir in our national memory.<ref>Laurel Johnson, Women of Eureka, Historic Montrose Cottage and Eureka Museum, 1995</ref> But they were still not deemed as an important facet in the image of nation building nor did they dovetail with the masculinist image of the rough and tumble goldfields. Corfield, Wickham and Gervasoni included them and many of their interesting life stories in The Eureka Encyclopaedia in 2004.<ref>Corfield, Justin, et al, ''The Eureka Encyclopeadia'', Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.</ref> | It was not until Laurel Johnson wrote about the ''Women of Eureka'' that they began to stir in our national memory.<ref>Laurel Johnson, Women of Eureka, Historic Montrose Cottage and Eureka Museum, 1995</ref> But they were still not deemed as an important facet in the image of nation building nor did they dovetail with the masculinist image of the rough and tumble goldfields. Corfield, Wickham and Gervasoni included them and many of their interesting life stories in The Eureka Encyclopaedia in 2004.<ref>Corfield, Justin, et al, ''The Eureka Encyclopeadia'', Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.</ref> | ||
| − | Given the historical context and record, it is plausible and highly likely that women were active in the protests surrounding Eureka. Women traditionally were participants in similar social protests in Britain.<ref>Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.</ref> West and Blumberg have demonstrated clearly that women have traditionally been present in such social protests throughout history.<ref>Guida West and Rhoda lois Blumberg, Introduction, in Women and Social Protest, ed. Guida West and Rhoda Lois Blumberg, New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.</ref> Reports claimed that around 10,000 people were present at each Monster Meeting of the Ballarat Reform League on 11 and 29 November 1854, these being 'quiet and orderly' occasions with flags and music 'adding to the effect of the affair'. <ref>''The Illustrated London News'', 25 November 1854, p. 587. </ref>AQs Ballarat women comprised around 25 per cent of the local population in 1854 it is highly likely that they were among the crowd. Mrs Margaret Shann or Shand a striking looking woman said she was at the rallies as did Mrs Rowlands,<ref>Dorothy Wickham, Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2009</ref> | + | Given the historical context and record, it is plausible and highly likely that women were active in the protests surrounding Eureka. Women traditionally were participants in similar social protests in Britain.<ref>Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.</ref> West and Blumberg have demonstrated clearly that women have traditionally been present in such social protests throughout history.<ref>Guida West and Rhoda lois Blumberg, Introduction, in Women and Social Protest, ed. Guida West and Rhoda Lois Blumberg, New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.</ref> Reports claimed that around 10,000 people were present at each Monster Meeting of the Ballarat Reform League on 11 and 29 November 1854, these being 'quiet and orderly' occasions with flags and music 'adding to the effect of the affair'. <ref>''The Illustrated London News'', 25 November 1854, p. 587. </ref>AQs Ballarat women comprised around 25 per cent of the local population in 1854 it is highly likely that they were among the crowd. Mrs [[Margaret Shann]] or Shand a striking looking woman said she was at the rallies as did Mrs [[Rowlands]],<ref>Dorothy Wickham, Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2009</ref> |
Oral and written testament places women and children not only at the scene of the fracas on 3 December 1854 at the Eureka Stockade on the Eureka Lead but also inside the Eureka Stockade.<ref>Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.</ref> | Oral and written testament places women and children not only at the scene of the fracas on 3 December 1854 at the Eureka Stockade on the Eureka Lead but also inside the Eureka Stockade.<ref>Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.</ref> | ||
Revision as of 17:11, 22 November 2013
Australian women have been systematically excluded from many narratives of nation building and they have almost disappeared from some historical accounts. The historical record has been mostly silent on the presence of women at Eureka, preferring to focus on the event and deeds of notable men, and this has often been taken to indicate that women were absent. Thus the idea of women's invisibility at Eureka has been propagated.
It was not until Laurel Johnson wrote about the Women of Eureka that they began to stir in our national memory.[1] But they were still not deemed as an important facet in the image of nation building nor did they dovetail with the masculinist image of the rough and tumble goldfields. Corfield, Wickham and Gervasoni included them and many of their interesting life stories in The Eureka Encyclopaedia in 2004.[2]
Given the historical context and record, it is plausible and highly likely that women were active in the protests surrounding Eureka. Women traditionally were participants in similar social protests in Britain.[3] West and Blumberg have demonstrated clearly that women have traditionally been present in such social protests throughout history.[4] Reports claimed that around 10,000 people were present at each Monster Meeting of the Ballarat Reform League on 11 and 29 November 1854, these being 'quiet and orderly' occasions with flags and music 'adding to the effect of the affair'. [5]AQs Ballarat women comprised around 25 per cent of the local population in 1854 it is highly likely that they were among the crowd. Mrs Margaret Shann or Shand a striking looking woman said she was at the rallies as did Mrs Rowlands,[6]
Oral and written testament places women and children not only at the scene of the fracas on 3 December 1854 at the Eureka Stockade on the Eureka Lead but also inside the Eureka Stockade.[7]
Also See
Elizabeth Abbott; Sarah Hanmer;
References
- ↑ Laurel Johnson, Women of Eureka, Historic Montrose Cottage and Eureka Museum, 1995
- ↑ Corfield, Justin, et al, The Eureka Encyclopeadia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.
- ↑ Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.
- ↑ Guida West and Rhoda lois Blumberg, Introduction, in Women and Social Protest, ed. Guida West and Rhoda Lois Blumberg, New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.
- ↑ The Illustrated London News, 25 November 1854, p. 587.
- ↑ Dorothy Wickham, Women of the Diggings: Ballarat 1854, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2009
- ↑ Dorothy Wickham. Women in 'Ballarat' 1851-1871: A Case Study in Agency, Volume 2, PhD, School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Ballarat, March 2008.
