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Women of the Goldrush: The creation of histories about women’s lives on the Ballarat goldfields during the 1850s
My research focuses on the contributions women had to the development of communities on the Ballarat goldfields region, with my research beginning with the arrival of European farming families in the 1830s. I look at the Aboriginal women, poor Bounty immigrants, political rebels, and convict women (amongst others!) who were important to the story of the township. My work includes discovering what they did to make a difference; their work as businesswomen, mothers, gold fossickers, political agitators and social connectors. Because my work takes a feminist angle of the goldfields, my work also necessarily involves assessing how these women have and have not been included in historical remembering of the goldfields. Through my research it is clear that women had a huge impact on Ballarat, and I aim to demonstrate this through my work.
Principal supervisor: Associate Professor Ben Mountford
Co-supervisor: Dr Mary Tomsic
Associate supervisors (end-user): Lauren Bourke (Head of Collections and Curatorial) & Anna Kyi (Historian) - Sovereign Hill Museums Association
Learn more about End-user Associate Supervision and Industry PhD opportunities at ACU