Anita Selzer introduces a new Library publication The Library’s new publication, Governors’ Wives in Colonial Australia, examines the public and private (where possible) lives of the vice-regal women who inhabited five different colonies in Australia in the nineteenth and very early twentieth century. The subjects are Eliza Darling (whose husband served as governor of New South Wales, 1825–1831); Jane Franklin (1837–1843, Van Diemen’s Land); Mary Anne Broome (1883–1889, Western Australia); Elizabeth Loch (1884–1889, Victoria), and Audrey Tennyson (1889–1903, in South Australia). The vice-regal wives were raised as women of the British upper-class, and assumed a British identity. Mary Anne Broome was born in Jamaica, while the others were born in England. They formed a privileged group, each being first lady in their respective colony, and queen of their society. The ladies were each obliged to enter the particularities of their respective colony, which each had its own history and defining characteristics. New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land had begun as convict colonies, with Western Australia joining them by the mid nineteenth century. Victoria was part of New South Wales until 1851 and known as the Port Phillip district. South Australia, however, was founded as a colony of free settlers rather than as a convict settlement.
Eliza Darling came to the wilderness of New South Wales when it was an infant colony in the making. Her husband, Ralph Darling, had to uphold law and order at the penal settlement as well as oversee the welfare of the free settlers. He also faced a licentious press, and was confronted by a vigilant campaign to undermine him as governor. Jane Franklin arrived in Van Diemen’s Land, where her husband John Franklin had also inherited a penal settlement, a colony of conflicting interests and hostility towards government. Like Darling, John Franklin had problems with government officials, faced a hostile press, and encountered colonials who were ready to instigate his political demise. Mary Anne Broome and Elizabeth Loch, however, arrived in thriving colonies. Western Australia had been transformed from a ‘Cinderella’ colony to a prosperous settlement, largely due to gold discoveries. Likewise, Victoria had experienced a land boom, and the birth of ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ during the governorship of Sir Henry Loch.
The fifth wife, Audrey Tennyson, migrated to a clean and cultured city, Adelaide, which had no convict origin. She enjoyed its cultural offerings such as going to the theatre and attending lectures, and her husband was governor during the federation of the separate colonies into a commonwealth of states. The book Governor’s Wives in Colonial Australia is largely based upon letters, diaries, journals and contemporary newspaper reports and accounts, supplemented by secondary sources. These provide an insight into aspects of the women’s public and private lives. Many of the primary sources used in writing the book are located in the National Library, which holds a range of primary material, particularly on Audrey Tennyson and Jane Franklin, in its Manuscripts Collection. Lady Tennyson wrote hundreds of letters to her mother Zacyntha Boyle, who lived in England, and they provide a very rich source of information of what it was like to be Lord Tennyson’s wife—and the partner of a governor. Audrey Tennyson was very forthcoming in the news she relayed to her mother about her life as a vice-regal. Similarly, Jane Franklin left a range of papers behind—diaries, journals and letters to loved ones, as well as business papers. These manuscripts are most informative.
Other libraries in Australia were also consulted in the research of the book—the State libraries of New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The Archives Office of Tasmania was contacted for letters by Eliza Darling. I also conducted international research for the book—the Scottish Records Office at Edinburgh holds diary letters written by Lady Loch (whose husband was Scottish); and several of the letters photocopied and sent to me are excerpted in the book. Part of the approach of Governors’ Wives in Australia is to explore the extent to which these vice-regal women embodied the ideal of a Victorian lady. A myriad of images emerges in this feminine ideal. The Victorian lady was placed in the private sphere of home and family. She was delicate, retiring, and frequently confined to her sofa. She was to be pure and innocent, and dependent on her husband. The ideal Victorian lady was expected to be the moral guardian of society, and spiritually devout in character. Among her duties as a homemaker was the hiring and supervising of servants, and overseeing the nursery for her children. She was also her husband’s hostess, managing the social life within the home. Charity work was also an appropriate pastime for the ideal Victorian lady.
Governors’ Wives in Colonial Australia examines the extent to which each of the five vice-regal women embodied these various ideals. Elizabeth Loch and Audrey Tennyson were traditional homemakers. Mary Anne Broome, although financially independent on the basis of her own published writings, also managed to run a home and even cook, taking care of her household chores when without servants. Jane Franklin, however, did not fit the mould of traditional homemaker. She bore no children of her own—although she was stepmother to Franklin’s daughter from an earlier marriage. Adventurous and free-spirited, she loved travelling, and following her own intellectual pursuits. She didn’t enjoy the role of social hostess for her husband—a role which the other governors’ wives fulfilled more willingly, Lady Loch and Lady Tennyson in particular. All the governors’ wives in the book travelled with their husbands, fulfilling a social role in meeting people along the way, and presenting themselves as the first lady of their respective colonies. They were their husband’s companion, present when he performed a ceremonial function such as laying the foundation stone of a public building or church, or when he opened schools or railways. Charity work occupied the time of all the governors’ wives considered in the book. Each vice-regal woman adopted a ‘hands on’ approach, not merely serving as a subscriber donating money. The women became involved in a number of causes that were important to them—poor women and children being chiefly their interests.
None of the book’s women, however, fits the stereotype of a delicate Victorian lady frequently confined to the sofa. Eliza Darling needed to recover from frequent pregnancies and births, while Audrey Tennyson suffered regular headaches, and at those times both ladies sought refuge in their beds—but their health did not preclude them from leading an active life. Mary Anne Broome transgressed some aspects of the upper-class feminine ideal, in that she had been previously married; and was a widow and mother prior to marrying the governor, who moreover was several years younger than her. This first lady also worked in the public sphere of paid work—as an author who had already made a name for herself before marrying the governor. She had some financial independence. With Jane Franklin she thus stood out as less conventional than the other vice-regal women considered in this book. Although it was not an expected role, all these vice-regal women were also educators—in either their public or private world. Eliza Darling and Audrey Tennyson both taught their children; in her charity work, Eliza also played a major role in educating working-class girls who were learning to become domestic servants. Jane Franklin and Mary Anne Broome likewise ran classes to educate young girls. Lady Broome further played the role of educator through her own published writings. Elizabeth Loch wanted to improve the needlework curriculum for girls in Victorian schools.
In another way, both Jane Franklin and Eliza Darling transgressed the ‘Victorian lady’ ideal through their entrance into contemporary politics. Out of devotion—to protect their husbands—both women entered what was defined as a ‘masculine domain’—affairs of state. In the process, the division of the private sphere of home-and-family, and the public sphere of politics, became blurred. Along with the above issues, Governors’ Wives in Colonial Australia offers observations on people, events and important issues of the day—ranging through the Melbourne Cup, Dame Nellie Melba, racial relations, the issue of servants, wages and labour, the Boer War, Federation and political appointments. ANITA SELZER is a Melbourne-based researcher and writer |
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