Pioneer Women of the Bush and Outback

PIONEER WOMEN OF THE BUSH AND OUTBACK explores the history and influence of ordinary women in the bush and in country towns during the last century and well into the present century.

It looks at how women set up and ran a home in the bush, describing their techniques for preparing and preserving food, the approach of early cookbooks, and their methods of coping during hard times. Most women provided many of their own household needs, making clothing, furniture and other necessities such as soap, candles, butter and cheese.

They also developed treatments for common ailments, as they were often isolated and at a great distance from medical treatment. Many women coped with extreme isolation and deprivation. They became expert at 'making do, and showed tremendous fortitude in coming to terms with such natural disasters as plagues of rabbits or dust.

Women were not only involved in keeping home and health together. A fascinating chapter is devoted to the work women did outside the home, such as shearing, dairying, droving, running their own properties, teaching and governessing.

The influence of women from outside the Anglo-Celtic mainstream is not overlooked.
Stories of Chinese, Indian, German and Cornish women, as well as Islander and Aboriginal women, illustrate the diversity of women's experience across the country.

Extensively illustrated with a wealth of photographs and memorabilia gathered from family archives and museums throughout Australia - the objects and relics that speak so eloquently of the hardships and the joys of outback life - this book gives a fascinating insight into the lives of pioneer women, their drive, stamina and resourcefulness, and their influence on the development of the Australian bush.