Colonial Women in the ADB nominations

These women have been nominated for entries in the Australian Dictionary of Biography as part of its Colonial Women project

Name Birth surname Birth Death Occupation

Adams, Eliza

Powles     letters between Kate Weston nee Clarke and her friend Eliza Adams who left Tasmania for New Zealand in 1865; Home to Adams and Weston was always the small ‘h’ home of Tasmania. On arriving in Dunedin Eliza sent her letters ‘home’
Adnum, Sarah   1814 1878 ironmonger
Allport, Mary Morton   1806 1895 artist, naturalist
Anderson, Cecilie   1860   ran boarding house; murderess
Anderson, Elizabeth Bruce   c1816? one of the first cases of mariticide in NSW (1816)
Andrews, Louisa  Hall 1849 1889 notorious mother of 7 who murdered 2 husbands
Andrews, Katherine E.     1915 author
Anley, Charlotte   1796 1893 novelist, social and religious writer; Quaker
Applewaite, Lucy Langdon 1833 1909 hospital matron, public servant
Arbuckle, Sarah   1834?   homemaker; farmer
Archer, Mary Kearns     convict, settler
Aspinall, Clara ? ? ? writer
Austin, Honora       dressmaker
Bailey, Mary Walker 1792 1873 opened a school for girls and boys; poet
Baker, Mary Ann  Bugg 1834   partner of bushranger Frederick Ward
Balbuk, Fanny   1840 1876  
Ball, Tabitha     1919  
Ballomara, Mary Catherine   1842 1851 Aboriginal child
Banks, Anastasia (Thornley Banks 1920s 1906 publican
Banks, Mary MacLeod McConnell   1914 author
Baptist De Lacy, Sister Mary John (Alicia) De Lacy 1799 1878 pioneer religious sister; founded St Vincent's Hospital, Woolloomooloo
Barangaroo       Eora Aboriginal, powerful wife of Bennelong
Barkly, Lady Annie (Anne Maria) Pratt 1838   second wife of Governor of Victoria; strong supporter of performing arts; lover of music and fundraiser
Barkly, Lady Elizabeth Helen (Minnie) Timins 1820 1857 wife of Governor of Victoria; socialite; painter; patroness of the theatre; philanthropist
Barling, Constance   1889? 1907?  
Barlow, Nancy  Barlow c1833    arrived under FMCES; ran a successful school, Janefield
Barnett, Ann     1885 workhouse girl
Barney, Elise   1810 1883 postmistress
Barrington, Amy   c1858 1942 school principal
Bateman, Mary Ann Benningfield 1798 1866 publican and land holder
Batman, Eliza (Thompson, later Sarah Willoughby) Callaghan 1802 1852 convict who became wife of John Batman and co-ran his estates in both VDL and Vic
Baverstock, Florence Blair 1861 1937 writer, journalist
Bawden, Elizabeth Ann Hindmarsh 1838 1896 community worker, worked with Aborigines of mixed heritage
Baxter, Letitia       matron, Moreton Bay Female Factory
Baxter, Sarah (Waples) Packer 1770 1856 publican
Bayly, Mary Frances (Hole) Bayly 1841 1888 came out on FMCES scheme. governess to 6 children teaching German, French, Music, Latin and singing
Beatrice, Flora aka Mura Leigh? Letty H. Martin?       writer; short stories
Beattie, Mary Jane  Doak c1837 1907 milliner and dressmaker
Beer, Elizabeth Offord c1828 1899 phrenologist
Beilby, Caroline Matilda (Becke) Beilby c1818 1894  
Bell, Georgina Ford 1818 1919 diarist
Benbow, Helen Lucy; aka Helen McNabb Benbow 1842   author and playwright
Bennett, Sarah Ricketts c1787 1860 nurse & housekeeper
Bentley, Catherine Sherwin 1831 1906 publican at Eureka
Benton, Susan   c1809 1830 convict
Berne, Georgina  Dagmar   c1865 1900  
Berry, Eliza   1842 1909 author
Berry, Harriet Fry 1821 1849  
Berkley, Martha   1813 1899 see entry for Walker, Theresa
Bigge, Esther  Salamon (Spencer) c1775 1855 baths proprietor – Boy Charlton Baths
Bignell, Margaret Annie Blyth 1853 1940 pharmacist; activist
Binfield, Elinor (Archer) Binfield c1802 1876 teacher
Bird, Sarah  Bird 1763 1842 publican; successful convict entrepreneur and publican
Blackwell, Anna ?? Blackwell 1816 1910 journalist 
Blitz, Julia Myers 1847 1923 author
Bolton, Ann Jane   1829 1906 early graduate; artist
Bon, Anne        
Boorong aka Arabaroo c1770s 1820s  
Booth, Sarah Ann (Sarah Clarke)   c1821 1903 wrote for young children
Bourke, Anne (Thomson) Bourke     diarist, hostess for governor father
Bowker, Betty   c1765 1870 convict; cotton weaver
Boyd, Hannah Villiers   1807 1865 author
Bradshaw, Atlanta ('Attie') Hope   1866 1929 pioneer
Brassey, Lady Sybil de Vere Capell 1858    
Brooks, Christiana Passmore   1835 diarist
Broughton, Sarah     1848 diarist
Brown, Eliza Bussey 1811 1896 early settler, WA
Brown, Margaret Emily Youngman 1845 1907 memoirist; governess
Brown, Susannah Seymour 1806 1883 publican and property owner at Wagga Wagga
Browne, Mary Hirst (Alexander) Browne     advocate of a national identity for Australian women
Bruford, Elizabeth, Effie and Martha       teachers and school founders
Buechele, Marlene   ? ? writer
Bugg, Mary Ann Brig 1834 1905  
Bunn, Anna Maria Murray 1808 1842 novelist, settler, gardener
Burdoff, Bertha Marie       student
Burke, Biddy (Bridget)   1831   famine orphan; writer
Burn, Jacobina Hunter 1763 1851 early Scottish settler
Bushelle, Elizabeth Wallace c 1819 1878 prima donna and music teacher
Bussell, Capel   1839 1924  
Bussell, Charlotte (Spicer)   1803 1899 early settler SW WA
Bussell, Elizabeth (Bessie) (Ommaney) Bussell 1812 ? early settler SW WA; travelled 100 km on horseback
Butler, Anastasia (Hayes) Butler 1817 1892 claimed she helped sew the Eureka flag; attended Peter Lalor when his arm was amputated; was a teacher at St Alipius
Byrne, Mother Mary Xavier   1821 1906 foundress of Mt Erin Convent, Wagga Wagga; first mother house of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), established in 1876
Byrne, Sr M Xavier (Sarah) Byrne 1846 1881 teacher; Mother Superior
Cadman, Elizabeth Mortimer c1895 1861 convict; businesswoman, publican, baths proprietor and ferry owner
Caffyn, Kathleen ('Iota') Hunter 1853 1926 writer
Cain, Mary Jane Griffin 1844 1929 writer: Reminscences of Coonabaraban 1844-1926
Caldwell, Annie (Mooney)   1820 1890 pioneer
Cambell, Zora Mabel   ? ? novelist
Cameron, Mary Ann Beattie   1899 mother of Dame Mary Gilmore and John Alexander Cameron, inter alia, wife of Donald Cameron, journalist and social columnist in NSW and WA.
Camfield, Anne       adopted Aboriginal girl Bessy Cameron
Campbell, Clara Ellen   1853 1904 author
Campbell, Marrianne "Minnie" Collison Close 1827 1903 artist
Campbell, Sophia Palmer 1777 1833  
Capel, Elizabeth "Bessie" Bussell 1812 1887 youngest sister in Bussell family
Capps, Eliza Frances Rice (Read)  c1814 1898 matron, Immigration barracks and then long lived registry office
Carangarang       Eora fisherwoman, sister of Bennelong, fished with white fishermen on European boats by 1791
Carleton, Caroline Baynes 1820 1874 poet
Carmichael, Grace Elizabeth Jennings (Mullis) Carmichael 1867 1904 nurse at Children's Hospital; author
Carr, Bridget (Biddy) (Slaven) Carr 1821 1891  
Casey, Leonora Lucinda  Potter 1834   in 1861 petitioned Supreme Court for divorce from violent husband (cruelty and adultery); divorce granted
Catford, Mary Corr c1852   country teacher
Caverhill, Jane Blackwood Mack     writer: Reminiscences 1840s-1850s
Chads, Ellen Augusta Morrison 1837 1923 writer, published 2 books and many short stories
Chambers, Elizabeth        
Chapman, Anne Hale Wilson 1830 1908 writer
Charbonnet-Kellerman, Alice    1858 1914 concert pianist, composer and teacher; mother of Annette Kellerman and music teacher to Dame Nellie Melba when the latter was at PLC, Melbourne.
Chester, Marian Maria Crawford c1810 1867 singer and actor
Chomley, Eliza  A Beckett 1843 1933 memoirist
Christensen, Marie       acting matron on Stradbroke Island mission
Christiana Jane Brooks (Blomfield) Passmore 1802 1852 working wife and mother; landowner
Clacy, Ellen Norris 1830 1901 author
Clarke, Anna  Remans  c1807 ? theatrical entrepreneur
Clendinning, Martha Holmes 1853 1908 shopkeeper; memoirist 
Clerk, Nellie Sophia Salmon 1855 1907 author
Cleveland, Charlotte Barry 1819 1884 correspondent, artist
Clifton, Louisa (Eliot) Clifton 1814 1888 artist and diarist; founding settler at Australind in WA
Clisby, Harriett Clisby 1830 1931 journalist 
Clouton, Kate       caught up in imposter scandal
Coates, Elizabeth   1811   ran established china business after death of husband
Cobham, Louisa Huon 1833 1854 much publicised divorce case
Cobham, Mary     1875 involved in son's divorce case against daughter-in-law
Cockerill, Mary ? c1800 1818 bushranger
Coghlan, Margaret Galvin   1862 convict; killed husband; sentenced to death
Cole, Eliza Frances Jordan   1911 answered E. W. Cole’s ad in the newspaper for a wife; married  in 1875
Collins, Ann (Morgan) Collins 1791 1885 claimed to be first white baby born in Australian waters, off Sydney Heads
Collins, Louisa   1849 1889 poisoner and murderer; hanged in 1889 for murdering her husband in NSW
Congreve, Emily   1830 1896 set up a school; author
Conigrave, Sarah Price  1841   author; intrepid adventurer
Connolly, Olivia Mary Knight 1830 1908 teacher; author
Cook, Sarah Cook    1839 murdered with her daughter
Cooke, Mary Ann (Nichola) Sergeant   1867 school proprietor
Cooksey, Catherine Brett and Sarah Moore  Cooksey c1803/Sc1806 C1885/S1886 school proprietors
Corston, Harriet  Reid (Hibble) c1843 1918 dressmaker, boarding house keeper, hotel keeper
Countess of Hopetoun, Hersey Eveleigh-De Moleyns 1867   shy and retiring Governor's wife 
Courtenay, Emma (Williams) Courtenay 1873 c1895 pregnant at 14; tried unsuccessfully to foster son out and then drowned him.
Cowell, Frances Kelsey c1834   ran Sportsman's Inn with husband
Cowl, Emily Ferguson c1844 1925 author; wrote interesting depictions of the Aborigines  from stereotypes to individualism and humanity; wrote of experiences on Australian frontier of settlement
Cox, Jane Maria Brooks 1806 1888  
Cox, Martha Caldwell Caldwell 1854 1947 pioneer, nurse, memoirist
Craddock, Jane McCormick     co-ran a store with husband
Cribb, Fanny Barnett      
Cribb, Sophia (formerly Lett) Brundell c1827   convict, successful businesswoman, publican, wife of Stafford Lett, had five children, then third wife of George Cribb (m. 1817), left him 1823, died 1827
Croaker, Charlotte Mary (Aaron) Croaker c1812 1882  
Crozier, Jessie Crozier 1819 1877 housewife; gave medical help to Aborigines
Currie, Jane Eliza Wood 1794 ? artist, naturalist
Dale, Mary Ann   ? ? publican and historian
Daly, Harriet Douglas 1854 1927 journalist
Daly, Mrs Dominic (Harriet W) Douglas 1854 1927 author
Darcy, Eliza Howard 1835 1920 housekeeper
Daringa   1770 1795 Eora Aboriginal; wife of Coleby who is in ADB
Darling, Lady Elizabeth Iabella Caroline Salter     supported theatre; charities; patron of Melbourne Lying-In Hospital
Davenport, Sarah       pioneer; author and digger
Davice, Hannah Maria (Clark) Davice 1796 1847 teacher
Davidson, Harriet Miller Miller 1839 1883 school principal, author
Davies, Eliza Arbuckle/Ardbuckle 1821 1888 evangelist & schoolteacher
Davis, Annie   c1837   governess teaching music, singing, French, German and drawing
Davis, Charlotte Davis 1827 1885 pioneer, hotel manager, midwife
Davis, Elizabeth Cadawaladyr/Davis c1794   author, nurse
Davis, Jane ‘Desda’  Price (Messier) c1837 1890 song lyricist writer, poet
Davis, Sophia Letitia Jones 1799 1850 musician, singer and music teacher
Davitt, Ellen Heseltine 1812 1879 teacher, novelist
Dawe, Ann (Hollingworth/Dawe) King ?   author
Dawson, Isabella       ethnographer
Dawson, Jane (Davy) Dawson 1818   property owner
Dawson, Octavia       homemaker, farmer
Debney, Ellen Elizabeth Turner 1833 1870 ran a private school, poet
de Falbe, Emmeline (Leslie) Macarthur 1828 1902 writer
De lacy Evans, Edward Ellen Tremaye c1830? 1901 transgender person 
de la Hoyde, Sister Mary Ignatia (Catherine) de la Hoyde 1804 1875 first woman to make her religious rrofession in Australia
Deakin, Catherine (Kate) Deakin 1850 1937 teacher and educator
Dearmer, Louisa   1840 1870 FMCES scheme; raised money for charity; teacher
de Castilla, Mary Elizabeth de Castilla 1868 1899 doctor
Dempsey, Mary Ann ? c1820 1917 publican
Dempster, Jane   ?   sewing mistress
Dexter, Caroline Harper Harper 1819 1860 feminist activist and businesswoman
D'Hotman, Mademoiselle Margaret   ?   refuge owner
Diamond, Anne Keane 1826 1885 store owner
Dickinson, Evelyn       doctor; writer
Doak, Margaret Kerr c1798 1883 milliner and dressmaker
Dobson, Emily Lempriere 1842 1934 women activist
Docker, Sarah   c1803 1864 diarist; pioneer Ovens River, Victoria
Dornwell, Edith Emily (Raymond) Dornwell 1865 1965 secondary school teacher
Dowling, Jane   c1819   governess; member of Ladies Reception Committee
Dubost, Henrietta Dubost c1799 1869 school proprietor
Dudemaine, Florentine   c1813 1891 music and dance teacher; French speaker
Duffield, Lydia Charlotte   1829   first woman mentioned in Perth Gazette to receive a land grant
Duke, Anne Gaynor 1838 1914 helped to sew Eureka Flag
Dumaresq, Elizabeth Sophia (Sophy) Butler-Danvers     aristocratic socialite
Duncan, Annie J   1858 ? writer
Dundas, Jane Dundas c1748 1805 convict; later housekeeper to Governor Phillip; then  Phillip Gidley King;
Dunkley, Lucretia     1843 she and her lover killed her husband
Dutruc, Louise Eulalie ? c1812 1891 French teacher
Edgar, Lucy Anna Edgar 1838   author
Ellis, Ellen       lace transferrer
Ellis, Marie Kramer   1853 1907 popular soprano, founder of hospital in Newcastle and the RSPCA Sydney
Emily Lacy, Alice Nicklin & Quetta Brown   C1873-1951, c1871-1951, c1888-1949   survivors of the Quetta disaster in 1890. Lacy wrote an account of the voyage later in life.
Esden, Lydia       convict, caused inquiry into shipboard rape; publican
Evans, Ellen McGarry 1827   ran grocery, then pub
Ey, Anna Victoria   1839 1917 writer
Fairfax, Mrs J (Sarah) Conigrave Price  1841 1940 writer
Fallick, Annie Mercy Gale 1857 1905 newspaper proprietor and compositor
Falls, Margaret Flynn 1830 1873 newspaper proprietor
Fawkes, Mary       matron, Female Factory, Parramatta
Felton, Myra  Felton 1835 1920 photographic artist
Fennelly, Catherine Brophy      
Fenton, Elizabeth Knox c1804 1875 writer of dramatic travel diary; New Norfolk pioneer
Finniss, Fanny Lipson (Morgan) Finniss 1836 1865 daughter of first Premier of SA; first European girl born in SA
Fischer, Mrs Carl (Jane) Also known as Jenny Edwards 1834 1896 journalist and school principal
Fitzgerald, Frances Elmes 1867 1919 feminist; prolific author
Fletcher, Ada     1927 agricultural implement inventor
Fletcher, Eliza Olsen 1854 1877 teacher
Flower, Mary Ann       school founder
Foley, Catherine Huggins     proprietor of a theatrical troupe
Foote, Mary Ann   1813 1920 19th Century centenarian
Foott, Henrietta Lumsden 1822 1916 painter and ran a school
Forster, Mrs       shopkeeper
Fotheringhame, Pattie Lewis 1852 1955 first female journalist, writer
Freycinet, Rose de Pinon 1794 1832 author, diarist
Friend, Mary Ann (Ford)   1800 1838 correspondent journal writer and artist
Fulford, Margaret Hindmarsh 1848 1938 pioneer
Fulloon, Elizabeth  d'azire ?Azaire? (Raine) (Speed)  1780 1842 matron of female factory
Gallagher, Kitty   ?   ex-convict drover; captain of the White Roys insurgents group
Gamble, Alfreda Hilda (Buchanan) Gamble 1871 1947 one of two women to become the first in Australia to undertake a resident medical officer year at a general public hospital (Melbourne Hospital), despite Board's resistance
Gardner, Ada   1864   actor
Garland, Mary (Boyle) Newland   1929 newspaper proprietor
Gawler, Mrs George (Julia) Russell 1770 c1845 wife of Governor of SA; philanthropist
Gawler, Maria Cox 1796 1870 established Sunday & Infants schools; active in charitable work
Geary, Honora (Nory) (Bagnall) Geary   1868 convict; flax spinner
Geoghehan, Louisa Agnes (Vaughan)  Geoghegan c1843   FMCES scheme; first governess to write about country life
Gibbons, Mary Elizabeth   1816 1853 Mother Superior
Gibson, Isabella       assisted migrant, needlewoman
Gilbert, Catherine formerly Hetherington Duffy 1838-9 1920 migrated 1855, married Christopher Hetherington 1860 at Shellharbour NSW (dec. 1885), married 1892 at Lob’s Hole, NSW, John Melbourne Gilbert. Wife, housekeeper, post mistress.
Gilbert, Mary Duff 1815 1878 wife of John Pascoe Fawkner’s blacksmith, James Gilbert, arrived Port Phillip 1835 and gave birth to the first child born among the settlers on the Yarra River, named John Melbourne Gilbert, in December 1835; died as a result of clothes catching fire, Talbingo, NSW. The family seems to have spent some time in the early 1870s at Young, NSW, where John’s younger brother William married.
Giles, Biddy    ? ? ferry owner on St Georges river
Gill, Sarah Jacobs     newspaper proprietor
Gillbee, Sarah   1803 1882 midwife
Glasson, Hannah Truscott Hawke 1845   writer
Goldstein, Isabella Hawkins 1849 1916 suffragist, temperance advocate and social reformer
Gooch, Gertrude        
Gore, Ann Gore     pioneer governess FMCES
Grant, Agnes   c1840s   pupil-teacher/assistant
Gray, Elizabeth Anne "Bessie" Graham ? ? songwriter, amateur vocalist
Gray, Lucy Sarah Waters 1840 1879 governess & journal writer
Gray, Maria Catherine (sister of Bessie)   c1827 1875 songwriter, amateur vocalist
Grayling, Jane Luddon, Ludden c1819 1894 farmer
Green, Fanny       postmistress
Grayling, Sarah Ann       publican
Green, Mary (Davis) Green 1835 1893  
Greenway, Mary Moore   1832 school owner; school teacher
Grossman, Jeanette       school teacher
Guerin, Theodosia  Yates (Stewart) c1815 1904 actor
Gullett, Lucinda     1900 journalist, philanthropist
Gurney, Louisa Jane Gurney 1852 1937 founder of Kambala school with Mademoiselle Soubeiran
Hall, Elizabeth       school teacher
Hall, Louisa (Andrews) Hall c1859 1889 poisoned two husbands
Ham, Alice (Mary Alice Ham) ('Hafra')   1854 1928 teacher and author
Hamilton, Clara       Scottish singer
Hamilton, Jane Brown c1827   school principal
Hamilton, Lady (Teresa Felicia) Reynolds 1852 1932 translater; founded Hamilton Literary Society
Hamilton, Octavia   ? ? singer, entertainer
Handcock, Jane (Thorn) Handcock 1820 1883  
Hanmer, Sarah McCullough 1821 1867 actor
Harding, Lucy (Hogan) Harding c1811   dressmaker
Hardwicke, Elizabeth Doig c1836 1901 novelist and poet
Hassell, Ethel Clifton 1857 1933 anthropologist
Haviland, E.S. (Ellen Sydney) Bridson 1858 ? author
Hawkins, Elizabeth   C1784 1875 first family of free settlers to cross Blue Mts, Bathurst pioneer
Hay, Agnes Gosse Gosse 1838 1909 writer (Afterglow memories 1905)
Hayes, Anastasia (Butler) Hayes 1818 1892 teacher
Hayes, Elizabeth Baker     business owner
Heawood, Caroline Maria (Löfven)  Heawood C1841   assisted with FMCES
Hegerty, Margaret       servant
Henry, Juliet     1898 wife of artist Lucien Henry, an ADB entry in which Juliette is briefly mentioned. But Juliette had led an adventurous life prior to arriving in Sydney in 1874.
Henrys, Catherine (Jemmy the Rover)   1805 1855 convict
Hensley, Emily       school proprietor
Henty, Evelyn A (Starkey) Henty 1863 ? author
Henty, Jane (Mrs Stephen George)   1817   author
Higgs, Lucy       school principal
Hill, Fidelia Savage  Thornton  Hill Monkhouse 1790 1854 poet
Hill, Rosamund & Florence       philanthropists
Hiller, Christiane Petschel 1840 ? writer
Hinckesman, Maria Theresa   c1803 1853 pianist, singer, composer
Hindmarsh, Mary (Milner) Hindmarsh 1817 1887 artist, draughtswoman, painter
Ho Ah Mei, Sarah Foster 1844   possibly the only 19th century woman to have divorced two husbands; milliner
Hodge, Eliza Baldwin Baldwin 1860 1949 author
Hoffmann, Pauline   1837 1917 wrote 'Memoirs'
Holmes, Susannah (Kable)   1755 1825 convict pioneer
Hordern, Ann Woodhead c1791 1871 co-established Mrs Hordern's Haberdashery, NSW
Hoskins, Rachel Cryer     established a seminary
Hoskins, Sarah   c1819   established a seminary with her step-mother Rachel
Hoskisson, Sarah Prigg 1772 1827  
Hotham, Jane Lady Hood c1817   Governor's wife
Hudspeth, Lucy   1865   author
Humphreys, Eliza Margaret   1860 1938 author
Hurford, Bridget (Larkin)       first woman to be hanged in WA
Hutchinson, Mary   1810 1880 factory matron
Hyland, Inez K Hyland 1863 1892 author
Hynes, Bridget Nolan 1831 1910 housekeeper
Innett, Ann (later Robinson)   1757 1820  
Ireland, Ellen   1838 1888 governess and letter writer
Jadis, Edith (Lautour) Jadis 1843 ? FMCES scheme; governess
Jenkins, Jemima Pitt (Forrest) 1783 1842 landowner 
Jenvey, Mary       teacher
Jervois, Lady Lucy Norsworthy     founded a Young Women's Institute; active in charity work
Johnson, Mary        
Johnston, Margaret Howden 1833 1888 Ballarat camper; kept diary
Jones, Ann Kennedy 1833   publican of Glenrowan Inn
Jones, Mary Ann (Lynch)   1818 1876 improved quality of lives for self and children
Jones, Mrs D G     1880 newspaper proprietor
Joojeebal/Doodyeep Balbuk's mother Noongar woman in early colony      
Judson, Jane Priscilla (Aikenhead) Judson 1814 1890  
Kelly, Isabella Mary   1809 1897 grazier
Kelly/Byrne Magaret/Mary Kelly      
Kennedy, Mary   ? ?  
Kerr, Rebecca  Kerr 1816 1884 milliner and dressmaker
King, Agnes       matron/superintendent
King, Betty   1768 1858 landowner
Kirkham, Elizabeth Pennington ('Kyra Keith' Bayly 1853 1901 author
Kong Meng, Annie       socialite
Kreusler, Marrianne Reuter 1811 1892 entomologist
Kundaibark       healer of Biripi People
Kurubarabulu       Botany woman, became well-known to settlers; wife of Bennelong; later wife of Caruey; later abducted by Collinjong
La Trobe, Sophie Montmollin 1810 1854 governor's wife
Lackey, Margaret (Reardon) Lackey 1818 1890  
Lambert, Kathleen ('Lyth')   c1830 c1900 writer; governess in Sydney and Hunter Valey
Lady Elizabeth Loch (Lizzie, Lizey) Villiers 1841   idolised as Governor of Victoria's wife; patron of music and arts; philanthropist; believer in equal rights
Le Patourel, Isabelle Sarah Tempest Durham 1856 1933 journalist
Leakey, Caroline Woolmer ('Oline Keese')   1827 1881   
Leathem, Marion Large 1842 1919 newspaper proprietor
Lee, Emma  ‘Madame’ Cooke  ? ? theatrical entrepreneur
Lee, Madame Zinga       tightrope walker, dancer and clairvoyant
Lee, Sarah Wallis 1791 1856 author
Levy, Julia Solomon 1826 1914 benefactor, community worker
Lewin, Frances Sescadorowna Susannah  (Somerville) aka Sesca Somerville Lewin 1861 1946 author
Lewin, Jane       key member of the FMCES (Female Emigration Class Society)
Lewis, Rosa (aka Rosa Dunn)   c1840 1920 leading Shakespearean actor; wrote a novel
Liston, Ellen Liston 1838 1885 writer, governess, horserider, bushwoman
Little, Mary Ann Little ? 1877 tailoress
Lockett, Jeannie Beattie 1890 1847 teacher, author
Logan, Letitia O'Beirne     commandant's wife
Logan, Maria   1808 1886 pianist and music teacher
Lord, Mary Hyde 1770 1864 convict, businesswoman, married emancipist trader Simeon Lord – probably ran his businesses with him – continued to manage them after his death, one of the wealthiest people in the colony
Lowe, Annie   1834 1910  
Lucas, Mary Ann Branfoot c1826 1900 community worker, matron
Luddon, Jane (Grayling)   c1819 1894 nurserymaid
Lungley, Edith Amelia   1876 1939 stain glass designer; went onto fame in London
McCann Annie M.D.   1838 1924 poet
Macarthur-Onslow, Elizabeth Macarthur 1840 1911 property owner
McConnel, Mary Macleod 1824 1910 author; Presbyterian Calvinist
MacDonagh, Dora (Honora McMahon) MacDonagh 1869 1908 assisted immigrant; milliner
Macdonald, Josephine Venables Liardet   1830 1929 only in Australia for 10 years but opened a servant's registry office in St Kilda in 1859 when Mrs Venables then moved to New Zealand in 1864 
Macfaull, Elizabeth       newspaper proprietor
MacFaull, Mrs       Government Printer 
MacGregor, Janie       author and pioneer
Mackay, Mary   c1844 1920 teacher
Macleay, Fanny (Frances Leonora) (Harington) Macleay 1793 1896 charity organiser; botanical artist and naturalist
Macnamara, Ritta  Moniz 1835 1925 butcher
Macpherson, Mrs Allan (Emma) Blake 1833 1915 writer
MacPherson, Rachel V.       home economics lecturer
Macro, Sarah (Bunce) Macro      
Magarey, Edith May   1865 1896 author
Mahony, Eliza Sarah Reid 1824 1914 author
Maiden, Jane Davis 1815 1891 convict, married James Maiden, convict, pastoralist (Maiden’s Punt, now Moama, NSW)
Majeroni, Guilia Tessero 1848 1903 formed theatre company with husband; novelist
Mallett, Caroline (Cara) (Mrs TW Edgeworth David) Mallett 1856   at age 26 appointed as new principal of Hurlstone Training College, Sydney
Manners-Sutton, Lady Georgiana (Viscontess Canterbury) Tompson 1818   governor of Victoria's wife 
Marbron, Myra   ? ? compiled an anthology of Aust. Poets
Marchioness of Normanby, Laura Russell 1817   governor of Victoria's wife; an invalid with a heart condition
Marr, Elizabeth Needham 1762 1825 first fleeter. Had the patronage of the Macarthurs
Marsden, Eliza/Elizabeth Fristan 1773 ?  
Marsden, Mary       matron on convict ship
Marsh, Rosetta (Rosata) Terry, Marsh or Madden, née Pracey   1858 innkeeper
Massy, Annie Christie Scott 1864 1900 boarding school proprietor and newspaper owner
Masters, Sarah     1859 guilty of infanticide
Mathew, Sarah Mathew c1805 1890 governess
Mathinna (Mary)   1835 1852 adopted by Governor Franklin and wife
Matora       wife of Bungaree; lived around Kirribilli on the North Shore; buried at Rose Bay
Maule, Rachael (Barham) Maule c1814 1892 property owner
May, Elizabeth     1867 entrepreneur, draper
McCabe, Eleanore     1793  
McCauley, Mary       supervisor, Gaol Hill Female Factory
McConnel, Mary Macleod 1830 1910 pioneer, socialite and philanthropist
McDonald, Mary   c1748   convict, chequered life as settler, Field of Mars, efforts to get daughter to join her
Macdonnell, Lady Blanche Anne Skurray     wife of Governor of SA.
McEwin, Agnes   1858 1942 author
McGregor, Sarah       convict
McKell, Katherine   1851   writer
McLauchlan, Mary     1830 convict
Macleay, Fanny (Frances Leonora) (Harington) Macleay 1793 1836 writer and artist; philanthropist
McManus, Mary A       author; proud Queenslander
McMaugh, Mary (Vaughan) McMaugh 1820s?   pioneer, author, ran property after husband's death
McNaughton, Catharine Annie Nottage 1850 1925 poet
MacPherson, Mrs Allan (Emma)   c1817 1861 journal writer, pioneer Minnamurra NSW
Merchant, Bridget Meaney ? 1902  
Merson, Mary Jane Row c1827-8 1904 wrote temperance tales
Mickle, Margaret Lyall c1830 1900 writer
Miller, Maggie L   1876 1917 author
Miller, Margaret and Catherine       teachers
Millett, Mrs Edward       artist, draughtswoman, painter, writer
Millington, Martha     1843 convict,; servant
Mills, Ethel   ? ? writer of short stories; contributor to the Bulletin
Minogue, Mrs Catherine   ?   publican 
Mitchell, Sarah Mitchell c1811 ? midwife and boarding house keeper
Molesworthy, Henrietta   1823   petitioned for judicial separation on grounds of cruelty (1864)
Monk, Mary Pittman       emigrant ship matron
Montefiore, Caroline Levi   1856 1932 short fiction writer
Mooney, Mary Mooney 1843 1894 businesswoman
Moore, Flora Macdonald Harris 1832 1910 actor
Moore, Margaret  Moore c1811 1879 school teacher
Morgan, Laura       first female doctor to practice in Victoria 
Moriarty, Mary   c1834   affluent landowners
Murray, Lady (Agnes) Edwards     school principal (Springfield College)
Murphy, Agnes G   1865 1931 writer
Murray, Elizabeth Alicia Poitier 1820 1877 novelist
Murray, Mrs D'Arcy Wentworth Latahrop       author
Musgrave, Sarah White 1830 1915 writer
Muspratt, Eliza  Lorriman 1818 1869 bookseller
Nagelle, Cécile       FMCES; correspondent; taught in private school in Angaston
Neale, Agnes (Caroline Agnes) Leane 1849 1892 author
Neale, Mary Ann       midwife
Needle, Martha Charles 1863 1894 mass murderer
New, Jane        
Ngilgie   c1840 1910 Aboriginal woman, worked with the Bussells
Nichols, Rosanna Julian Abrahams 1787 1837 high society, Sydney
Nicol, Janet Nicol 1822 1903 pioneer
Nihel, Mary Dymphana (Cudmore) Nihel c1811 1893  
Nihill, Sarah Jane   1826 1915 writer
Nixon, Charlotte       milliner
Nixon, Jane   1816   servant; later established a flourmill
Norris, Theresa Cottrill (Burridge) c1817 1878 shopkeeper, ginger beer manufacturer
Norton, Mary Charlotte Berry 1844 1918  
O'Brien, Ellen   c1815 1887 dairywoman
O'Connor, Elizabeth Boyle 1838   school teacher
O'Connor, Janet Dods 1827 1895 school principal
O'Doherty, Mary Eva Kelly 1829 1910 poet and balladist
O'Donohue, Margaret   c1850   domestic servant and prostitute; murderess; given 21 years and served 14.
O'Gorman, Edith (Mrs Auffray)   1842 1919 American ‘escaped nun’; toured New Zealand and Australia 1886-7, causing considerable uproar and filling a great deal of newsprint. A precursor to the ‘escaped nun’ of our own, Brigid Partridge (Sister Ligouri), who is in the ADB
O'Leary, Elizabeth (Sloman) O'Leary     child maid, worked at Female Factory; turnkey
O'Neill, Augusta (Evangelina Augusta) Grey c1846 c1936 author
Palmer, Emma Outtrim c1834 1918 publican, Temperance, mayor’s wife, president of womanhood suffrage league
Palmer-Archer, Laura Maude O'Ferrall 1864 1929 Writer
Parker, Mrs Henry H McIntyre 1840   Author
Parkes, Menie (Clarinda)   1839 1915 School proprietor; poet
Parry, Isabella Stanley c1800 1839 Letter writer, Port Stephens settler
Paten, Catherine Ann Pain 1826 1871 belt stitcher
Paterson, Alice F (wrote as Solus) Gome 1849   Author
Paterson, Elizabeth   c1760 1825 a founder and worker for Orphan Institute, Sydney
Paty, Dorothy English   1805 1836 natural history painter of some renown; lived in Newcastle NSW
Patyegarang       Eora Aboriginal, taught Aboriginal customs and language to Lieutenant William Dawes (who is in ADB)
Pawsey, Marianne Cavell (Watson) c1807 1897 servants registry office
Payne, Polly   1854   nntrepreneur; dressmaker
Pearce, Margaret  Potbury c1833 1922 dressmaker, schoolteacher,
Pears, Martha Nankivell     matron
Pearson, Edith Lucille (E.L.P.) Butler 1852 1892 children's fiction writer
Penfold, Mary Holt 1820 1896 vigneron & winemaker. Unacknowledged role in establishing and co-owning internationally famous Penfolds Winery at Magill in South Australia
Perry, Sarah Susannah Hollett 1827 1856 poet
Peter, Mary Bent 1811 1884 early settler of Wagga Wagga, widowed at 24 (1835) when first husband died, ‘although illiterate and uneducated, she had a great knowledge and understanding about stock, and her male employees deferred to her opinion’; re-married John Peter 1837
Peterson, Mary Louisa Ann McRoberts 1847 1918 author
Phillips, Ada Crawcour 1863 1964 founder of Reform Judaism in Australia
Phillips/Beck, Elizabeth Goodenough c1814 1858 publican
Pike, Tabitha       school principal
Piper, Mathilde   1826 1905  
Piper, Mary Anne Shears      
Pitt, Mary   1743 1815  
Ponder, Josephine 'Madame' ? (Durand) ? 1872 milliner
Popham, Eliza (Cranston) Popham c1818   publican
Porter, Mrs G R (Sarah) Ricardo 1791 1862 author
Potbury, Margaret (Pearce) Potbury 1833 1922 milliner; memoirist
Praed, Rosa Caroline   1851 1935 Australian-born writer
Prendergast, Mary Ann (McCoy) Prendergast 1839 1917  
Priddy, Elizabeth (Henley) Priddy     governess; head nurse at orphan school; staymaker
Prince, Eliza Isabella (Cowper) Prince c1814 1880 governess; married surgeon Henry Cowper, Qld's first medical practitioner
Prinsep, Elisabeth Acworth 1804 1885 early settler and writer
Punshon, Mary     1898 shopowner
Purcell, Frances Lepherd 1862 1935 writer
Putland, Mary Bligh     governor father’s hostess, unconventional 
Ramsay-Laye, Elizabeth Ramsay 1832 1932 wrote of social life in Australia
Randall, Eliza Drake Wickes 1821 1902 author; memoirist
Ranken, Janet Hutchinson c1796 1883 traveller over Blue Mts; Bathurst pioneer
Read, Eliza  Hoskins 1824 1905 dancing teacher
Remans, Anne Theresa (Clarke) Remans      actor, singer
Richardson, Mary Bailey     postmistress
Richmond, Lily   c1863 1899 novelist
Riddell, Mary Ann Sibella Stephen 1826 1890 author
Robson, Mary Ann  Rossiter 1821 1903 milliner and dressmaker
Roland, Sarah Anne Charlotte Amy Phillips ? ? children's fiction writer
Rose, Sarah Ann (Pearson & Bruce) Rose   1852 convicted laundress; landowner
Rose-Soley, Agnes ('Rose de Boheme)   1847   writer
Rosman, Aice Matilda Bowyer Varley 1857 1931 author
Rowe, Elizabeth Stretch     established Brookside Reformatory
Rowlands, Elizabeth   1827 1914 writer
Rudelhoff, Dinah (Murray) Rudelhoff     actor; theatre manager
Rumsby, Anne   1802 1850 convict, settler
Ruse, Elizabeth Parry/Perry 1766 1836 convict, first female farmer
Russell, Frances Emily Robey 1846 1899 author
Ruttle, Jane (Dowling)   1816    
Ryan, Ellen   c1851 1920 publican and entrepreneur
Rye, Maria   1829 1903 social reformer
Sanders, Jane   c1830   pioneer Quaker woman; memoirist
Scahill, Winifred (Hallam)   c1818 1901 landowner
Scarlett, Margaret (Tart) Scarlett 1865 1916 school teacher
Scott, Elizabeth ? c1840 1863 publican
Scott, Hannah (Bloomfield)       laundress; teacher at orphan school
Scott, Harriet    1830 1907 foremost natural science painter in NSW
Scott, Helena Calcott 1832   see sister Harriet's entry
Scott, Maria ('Mist')   ? 1899  
Selby, Penelope Earles 1811 1852 correspondent
Sellers, Maud       school principal
Sempill, Susanna L   1853 1919 poet
Seymour, Mary (Dean) Seymour 1876   sensational 'Dean' case in the 1890s
Share, Jane Berry ? 1876  
Sharp, Lily Louisa/Lili King/Madame Rafalewski/ ‘Australian Nightingale’ Sharp 1876 1964 perhaps just out of period? Prize winning singer of 1890s, toured within Australia; she then toured world with musician husband in first decade of twentieth century.
Shaw, Elizabeth Cooper 1794 1897 early settler and pastoralist
Shelly, Margaret   c1819 1895 marriage witness
Shenton, Mercy Heal     newspaper proprietor
Shurwell, Sarah (Payne) Shurwell 1796 1840 convict, nurse, publican
Short, Harriet Williams     imprisoned for infanticide of illegitimate child
Short, Millicent (or Millecent)  Clara Phillips 1803 1900 wife of Bishop of Adelaide
Sibley, Marie 'Madame' Element (O'Connor)   1894  phrenologist
Silvester, Eliza (Tegg) Silvester 1811   nursemaid, shopwoman
Sims, Mary Anne; Jane Doyle; Charlotte Johnson Coss      
Smallshaw, Mary   1794 1830 Welsh silk throwster
Smithard, Ellen Morrisey c1828    
Smith, Mary Theresa ‘Polly’ Roberts Smith 1843 1924  publican with extras 
Snowden, Mildred (Demaine) Snowden 1860   writer
Sohier, Ellen 'Madame' Williams   1871 waxworks
Spencer, Mary Anna (later McManus) 1844 1933   pioneer; hard and lonely life on a remote Queensland property; memoirist
Spicer, Charlotte Bussell 1803 1887 correspondent, property manager
St Remy Madame de  ? ? ?  midwife and lecturer
Stanger, Sophia   ? ? correspondent
Staniforth, Amy Susannah   c1790 1868 quilter and poet
Staude, Mrs Thekla       Polish pioneer
Stanley, Charlotte Tilney ('Effie')   1836 1894 writer
Stanley, Eliza Clayton 1811 1901 correspondent
Stanley, Effie (Charlotte) Tilney 1836 1894 set up 'Young Ladies' Seminary' with her sister; Sunday school teacher; novelist
Stark, Mary Helena   c1850 1891 teacher
Stawell, Mary Frances Elizabeth Greene 1830 1921 writer
Stephan, Johanna Wilhelme Labudda 1863 1926 midwife - had 22 children
Stirling, Amie Livingstone   1880 1945 writer: Memories of an Australian Childhood 1880-1900
Stone, Eugenia       author
Storrie, Agnes Louisa (Kettlewell) Storrie 1864 1936 author, columnist and diarist
Strobo, Charity (Cherry Begley) also Gillett Begley c1805 1850 matron; straw-bonnet maker
Styles, Emma Styles 1844 1886 librarian, poet
Sullivan, Mary    c1829 1852 child killer
Sullivan, Mary Matilda   1839 1895 school mistress/owner of Burradoo Park school for young ladies; widow of the late Captain Sullivan, of Burradoo Park 
Swaine, Harriett (Cowper)   c1808 1869 governess
Sykes, Myra Wilcock     convict
Sylvester, Mary  ? c1788 1862 salt manufacturer
Synnot, Barbara Argentina Todd 1866 1958 author
Synnot, Jane Synnot 1822 1912 matriarch, Victorian Western District 
Taafe, Bridget   ? ? working woman
Tait, Katie and Mary Brady       school proprietors
Talbot, Thorpe (Frances Ellen Ward) Talbot 1850 1923 author
Tapp, Jane   c1813   housemaid
Tanner, Mrs Hester Hannah Viveash 1801 1846 Top of social hierarchy
Taplin, Louise   1855 1901 matron of Infants Home, Ashfield (Sydney),1886-1901
Taylor, Elizabeth       abortionist accused of murdering many woman
Taylor, Maria Maudelina Hill c1814 1841 vocalist and actor
Templeman, Janet   1786 1857 grazier
Terry, Rosetta Pracey 1770 1858 businesswoman, property owner, publican
Thomas, Mary Harris 1787 1875 diarist, poet
Thompson, Barbara Crawford c1831    
Thompson, Isola Florence   1861 1915 teacher
Thompson-Hooper, Cecilia (Davis) Thompson-Hooper c1819   1905 schoolmistress
Thomson, Ellen (Wood) Lynch 1846 1887 adulterer and murderess
Thomson, Mirian Mary Noake 1830 1842 poet
Thorpe, Mary Thorpe 1828   domestic servant; wife of first Chinese to be married in the colony in 1847
Thorne, Elizabeth Anne Bisdee 1821 1910 writer
Thornton, Sarah   ? 1827 convict shopkeeper, homemaker
Thrower, Mrs W I (Mary Anne Theresa) Kean c1841 1901 novelist
Tickner, Georgina Maria (Bones) Tickner 1848 1919 writer
Tighe, Eliza Cordelia (Hyde)     c1891 appointed matron on ship 
Timmins, Emily Timmins 1854 1919  
Tisdall, Lucy Weekes     teacher
Toomey, Maria (Bent) Toomey c1820 1890  
Tranmer, Ellie (Ellen Eliza) Cowgill c1860   writer and school teacher
Tremaye, Ellen (Edward de Lacy Evans)        
Tripp, Elizabeth (Leigh) Leigh 1809   teacher
Tuck, Mrs ? ?   correspondent
Turner, Lilian Burwell 1867 1956 author; interested in women's rights
Twynam, Emily Bolton 1845 1910 woodcarving, tapestry and sketching, botanical drawing
Tyler, Mary Ann Brooksbank 1840 1914 writer
Venables, Josephine  Liardet 1830   ran a female servants' registry office; dressmaker
Vidal, Mary Theresa Johnson 1815 1873 writer
Vieusseux, Julie Matthieu 1820   school proprietor; portrait painter
Viveash, Ellen Martha   ? 1909 medical, nursing care for family 
Vosper, Laura Woodward ? ? music teacher, singer, pianist
Walker, Sarah Benson Mather 1812 1893 writer
Walker, Theresa   1807 1876 artist
Wallace, Elizabeth (Bushell) Wallace 1820 1878 actor
Wallace, Matilda Elliot Hill 1838 1898 pioneer woman, memoirist; wrote booklet Twelve Years Life in Australia (1859-1871)
Walsh, Ann (Smith)     1839 drunkard, in violent relationship; murdered husband; adept at producing witnesses although undefended at trial; sent to Moreton Bay Penal Settlement and died there.
Walsh, Eliza (Smith Walsh C1889   farmer; fought for right of a woman to own land 
Walsh, Sister Mary de Sales   1866 1892 died 1892 of consumption at the age of 26, after her two brothers, Fathers Dennis and Andrew Walsh, had died of the same disease. Educated at Rathfarnham Convent, Dublin, she came to Australia and spent more than six years at Mt Erin.
Walshe, Bridget (Bee) Walshe 1855 1901 activist in Irish causes; fund raiser for vulnerable communities
Waples, Sarah Baxter (Packer) c1869 1859 publican, shopkeeper, boarding house keeper
Ward, Eliza       young apprentice
Warraweer       sister of Bennelong, wife of Gnunga-gnunga (Collins), gave birth in Sydney assisted by Aboriginal and white women; friend of David Collins
Waterhouse, Jessie Mabel; aka Jessie Mabel Smythe Laurie 1851 1928 author
Watson, Annie Fraser       teacher
Watson, Mrs       pioneer
Watson, Susannah Bidy 1794 1877 stole to feed family; in gaol, in more trouble and transported
Watts, Jane Isabella Giles 1824 1894 author
Way, Emily  Boston c1840 1898 milliner dressmaker and draper
Webb, Sarah Webb c1821   FMCES Governess; ran a school for children in Bendigo
Weekes, Clara       pupil-teacher
Weekes, Cora Anna  ? ? ? conwoman
Weedons, Harriet       saleswoman
Welch, Sarah Ellen   1851 1914 wrote religious and moral fiction and novellas.
Wells, Louisa Clarke Elrington 1845 ? dressmaker, prostitute
Wentworth, Sarah Cox 1806 1880 chatelaine of Vaucluse House
Westgarth, Sophia Esther (Heussler) Westgarth c1835 1900 autobiographer
White, Amelia        
White, Frances  White c1812? 1869 boarding house keeper
White, Margaret   c1829 1894 housewife and needlewoman
Whitfield, Caroline       teacher
Whitfield, Eleanor (Madeline)(Wood) Whitfield     teacher
Whitington, Lucretia Sturt Smallpiece 1840 1918 poet
Whyte, Elizabeth and Ellen       school owners
Whyte, Jane       school assistant
Whyte, Margaret       first woman doctor to hold a post on hospital staff at the Women's Hospital in 1892
Wild, Mary       letter writer, Camden settler
Williams, Emma   c1870 c1895 prostitute and child killer
Williams, Isabella   1839 1878 servant, single mother, farmer
Williams, Mother Xavier (Eliza) Williams 1800 1892 Mother Superior of the Tasmanian Sisters of Charity; opened St Joseph's Orphanage
Williams, Mrs W M (Miss Reid of Ratho) Reid     visited prisons and was interested in conditions of women generally
Wilson, Charlotte Amy Robinson 1834 1901 baths proprietor, registry office
Wilson, Mrs James Glenny (Anne Glenny Wilson) Adams 1848 1930 author; verse and novelist
Withers, Anastasia Splain ?    
Woman from the Cowpastures Tribe        
Wood, Susan Nugent Lapham 1836 1880 author
Woolcock, Elizabeth Oliver 1848 1873 in 1873 only woman to be executed in SA
Wright, Charlotte May Mackenzie Mackenzie 1855 1929 pioneer and memoirist
Wright, Elizabeth   ? ? publican
Wright, Laura Pauline ? 1819 1894 early settler and writer
Wyatt, Julia Mathews 1808 1898 supported charities, contributed in press on social issues, essayist
Wyly, Isabella Alice (Scott) Wyly C1833 1915 servant, owner of drapery
Wynford, Lady Edith Anne Best Marsh c1848   autobiographer
Yeates, Mary Driscoll/O'Driscoll   1860s Irish orphan emigrant 1830s
Young, Lady Augusta Sophia Marryat 1828 1913 active in philanthropy as Governor of Tasmania's wife; also involved in Colonial Ladies Committees
Young, Ellen Warboys 1810 1872  'Ballarat Poetess'

 

Updated:  16 August 2017/Responsible Officer:  Head of School/Page Contact:  CASS Marketing & Communications