Queensland Family History Society Inc
QFHS Calendar Event
Learn@QFHS - Women of the Diggings
Starts: 10 Nov 2023 at 10:00 AM
Ends: 10 Nov 2023 at 11:30 AM
Notes:
THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD ONLINE. Topic: Who Rocked the Cradle? Women of the Diggings Presenter: Dr Dorothy Wickham The fight was for the right to vote; for equality; as well as for basic human rights. How women strove to exercise and exert their independent attitudes and ideas, and how they lived their lives, within such a restrictive male-controlled patriarchal society, has been essentially “hidden”. Dot Wickham will examine how women challenged such gendered power structures. She will discuss women of the Victorian Gold Fields, from many different circumstances and places, who not only overcame obstacles but who were innovative and resourceful. In 1854 for example, Clara Seekamp took over the editorship of the Ballarat Times newspaper, when her husband Henry was arrested and thrown into gaol. Clara’s editorials were described by the Argus as outspoken, startling in tone, and liberal and energetic in their use of words such as ‘sedition’, ‘liberty’ and ‘oppression’. Fanny Finch of Castlemaine, a striking figure with her dark skin, black hair adorned in artificial flowers, and bright blue silk dress in 1856 saw a loophole in the ballot system and voted in local elections. In 1867 a group of 26 Ballarat matrons wrote to the government and established a female refuge for ‘fallen’ women (single mums), the first such institution on the Australian goldfields. We may well ask ‘Who Rocked the Cradle?’ As these sessions have a limited number of tickets to ensure everyone gets their chance to participate in the discussion, if you are booked and realise you are now unable to attend, please advise us so we can reallocate your ticket to someone on the waitlist. Note: This event is held in QLD time, AEST: no daylight saving. (GMT+10) For further information click on the image top left. For suggestions for training course topics please contact the Education team at education@qfhs.org.au.