A tribute to Pioneer women, Longreach, Australia.From the 1800s to the onset of World War I, pioneers making their homes in outback Australia were joined by their wives, many of whom had no idea of the difficulties and dangers ahead.
These brave and resourceful women encountered conditions which would test their resilience and resourcefulness to the utmost:
relentless heat, dust and isolation; and no doctors or pioneer women featured who faced the risk of dying from malaria, the scourge of tropical Australia.
Many women lived in wooden huts or tin sheds with concrete floors, cooked on wood-fired stoves, and lacked any of the domestic appliances we take for granted today.
Georgiana Molloy and the Brussell women tamed hectares of virgin bush with primitive implements. Myrtle White was trapped among sandhills, the fine grains invading her home and impeding her harrowing attempts to get her feverish baby son to the doctor before he died.
White's predicament was quoted by the Revd John Flynn while raising funds for his Flying Doctor service.
The outback was indeed 'no place for a lady'. Yet many women with no previous experience of hardship rose to the challenge of creating homes, nursing farming - and keeping journals, which provided a startling vivid picture of the life they faced - part of the outback legend.
(Great Pioneer Women of the Outback by Susanna De Vries)
'Great Pioneer Women of the Outback' features women pioneering in some of the harshest land in Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.
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What a great post for the day, Trudi! Women can and do prove themselves to be quite amazing, strong, resourceful and unbelievably brave! Thanks for giving us a great example of just that!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Although the statue is frail in appearance, it shows how strong and determined women can be when faced with difficult tasks. Thank you for sharing this great tribute to pioneers and womanhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my friend Penelope. Pioneer women were refined by the fires of hardship, and their frail frames gave little hint of their determination. The pioneers of Australia had different problems from the pioneer women of Canada, but two great nations have grown out of the sacrifices they made. Thanks for a thoughtful and informative post.
ReplyDelete-- K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
What an informative and interesting post! Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteTitania, what a great post. Women have proved that they can do just about everything. The statue is beautiful. I wish you and yours all the best in 2011.
ReplyDeleteVery different and unique topic. We take things for granted today, nice to pause and remember these ladies, one can appreciate more.
ReplyDeleteA Very Happy New Year to you!
They were great women indeed. Hats off to them.
ReplyDeleteWish you and your family a Happy New Year!
A wonderful statue.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
These pioneers are some of the world's unsung heroes!
ReplyDeletePioneering women were so tough. My grand mothers too went to Borneo and endured hardship.
ReplyDeleteThe climate must have the biggest shock. Identifying things to have for a good meal etc. Thanks to all their hard work... today we all have all the basics right ;-)
ReplyDeleteBtw, sorry about your aloe. Mine rots (leaves below) too when it rains too long. Planted it in mostly sand. As for kalanchoe I sit it in gravels. Same as you?