Louisa Lawson

Louisa Lawson
photograph
neg.5521
National Library of Australia

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA'S
FEDERATION GATEWAY


LAWSON, LOUISA (1848-1920)

Louisa Lawson was a newspaper proprietor, journalist, poet and feminist. She was also the mother of Henry Lawson. She was born on 17 February 1848 near Mudgee, N.S.W.

In 1887-8 she edited the Republican with son Henry, printed on an old press set up in Louisa's cottage. The Republican called for all Australians to unite under 'the flag of a Federated Australia, the Great Republic of the Southern Seas'. Republican was replaced by the Nationalist which lasted two issues. From 1888 to 1905 Louisa was the moving spirit behind the feminist journal, Dawn: a Journal for Australian Women.

In 1891 she joined the Womanhood Suffrage League, allowing the League to use the Dawn office and print its literature there free of charge. She was a member of the League's deputation to NSW premier George Dibbs in 1892. In a Dawn editorial of October 1890 she wrote 'Men govern the world and the schemes upon which all our institutions are founded show men's thoughts only'. Her journalistic and political efforts did much to make the vote for women a precondition for a federated Australia.

She died on 12 August 1920.

Books of interest

Matthews, Brian . (1987). Louisa. Melbourne: McPhee Gribble.

Pearce, Sharyn. (ed.) (1992) The shameless scribbler: Louisa Lawson. Working papers in Australian studies, no. 75. London.

Lawson, Olive. (ed.) (1990). The first voice of Australian feminism: excerpts from Louisa Lawson's The Dawn, 1888-1895. Sydney.

A complete set of Dawn (1888-1905) is on microfilm in most large libraries.

 

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