Women and Family History

March is Women’s History Month. Uncover the stories of women in your family history this month.

Local and family history historians have revealed the story of Eliza Smith who came to Australia aged 19 in 1854. She subsequently had two husbands, ten children and worked most of her life in a hotel or as a postmistress or storekeeper, living at Queenstown (St Andrews) for 55 years. (Source: Early history of St Andrews township and some of its earliest pioneers )

Tips and  selected resources to research your female line:

As always, gather records together and talk to the senior members of your family to record what is already known. Ask questions around family bibles, diaries, letters and photos that have been preserved. Identify people in photographs by style of fashion worn by the women. Create a timeline, add what is known and perhaps some broader events (such as wartime) to add context to her life.
Determine the maiden name (or name at birth) of your ancestor. Purchase civil registration certificates to confirm this. Perhaps a naming pattern tradition was used by your family. 

Be conscious that a female ancestor may have married more than once and/or was divorced.
Consider the abbreviations, nicknames and variations used for personal names (e.g. Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Bess, Bessy, Beth, Betsy, Betty, Elsbeth, Elsie, Eliza, Libby, Lisa, Liza, Liz, Lizzy).

Look for obituaries and death notices in the paper for parents and husbands, these sometimes reveal married names when not otherwise known. Newspaper articles can be challenging when women were reported as “Mrs Smith”. Bear this in mind in your searching strategies online.

Did your ancestor sign the 1891 Women’s Suffrage petition? This was presented to the Parliament of Victoria for women to get the vote.

Check electoral rolls on Ancestry Library Edition for residence and occupation.
Women of Vision is an index of nuns of the catholic church in Australia 1838-1918.
Many teacher records (1863-1959) have been digitised by Public Records Office Victoria
Faith Hope Charity – Australian women and imperial honours 1901-1989

Look for women named in wills and as next of kin on military service records. Learn as much as you can about the husband and the children – and the places they lived.

Gravestones sometimes include names at birth. Explore nearby graves for other family members.

Aim to pull all that research into a narrative. Write up the story, and share the achievements and accomplishments of the women in your family history.