Surviving widowhood

Life alone in rural Australia in the second half of the nineteenth century

Bibliographic Data

ID11493992
AuthorsGlenda Strachan (0000-0002-7652-5108, Griffith University, corresponding author), LINDY HENDERSON (Griffith University)
Year2008
Volume23
Issue3
Pages487-508
Publication date2008-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContinuity and Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-4160 • E-ISSN: 1469-218X
PublisherLiverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1017/s0268416008006942
OpenAlexW1987196744
LanguageEN
References cited9

In the second half of the nineteenth century in the remote farming district of Dungog in the colony of New South Wales on the Australian continent, widows faced harsh economic realities. Using civil registration records, census data, newspaper reports, statistical returns, family histories and other sources, we have, where possible, reconstructed the lives of these widows, particularly those with dependent children. This paper discusses the range of survival strategies used. It presents statistical evidence from official records, and adds vignettes of the lives of a handful of widows whose strategies can be explored more completely using additional historical sources

Biography · Census · Economic growth · Economics · Genealogy · Geography · Historical demography · Historical record · Media studies · Newspaper · Population · Research methodology · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Australian History and Society · Demography · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History

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