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Spence, Catherine Helen (1825 - 1910)

Born
31 October 1825
Near Melrose, Scotland
Died
1910
Adelaide, South Australia
Occupation
Suffragist, Writer and Campaigner

Summary

Spence ran as a South Australian delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1897, the first woman political candidate in Australia. She was also active in the Women's Suffrage League and the South Australian National Council of Women.

Sources used to compile this entry: Eade, Susan, 'Spence, Catherine Helen (1825-1911)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060190b.htm.

Related entries

Friend and Colleague

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Archival resources

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Spence, Catherine Helen, 1825-1910. Papers, 1856 - 1909, ML MSS 202; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Catherine Helen Spence 1825-1910. [Material in archival and other institutions], Mfm G 7743-7745; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Catherine Helen Spence 1825-1910, 1856 - 1909, mfm G 8136-8139; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Catherine Helen Spence 1853-1900, 1853 - 1900, Mfm G 7316; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

  • The Grand Old Woman of Australia (literary manuscript), c. 1936, D 6972(Lit Ms); Young, Jeanne Forster (1876 - 1955); State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
  • Papers of Catherine Helen Spence., 1866 - 1910, PRG 88; Spence, Catherine Helen (1825 - 1910); State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
  • Speech re Catherine Helen Spence, 1994, D7235(T); Magarey, Susan (1943 - ); State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
  • Unitarian Christian Church Adelaide : SUMMARY RECORD, 1854 - 1996, SRG 122; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Catherine Helen Spence, Works of Catherine Helen Spence, University of Queensland Press, Microform Division, St. Lucia, Qld, 197-?. Details
  • Catherine Helen Spence; edited by Judy King & Graham Tulloch., Tenacious of the past : the recollections of Helen Brodie, Libraries Board of South Australia, Adelaide, c1994, 91 pp. Details
  • Magarey, Susan, Unbridling the tongues of women : A Biography of Catherine Helen Spence, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, c1985, 240 pp. Details
  • Spence, Catherine Helen [edited and introduced by Jeanne F. Young], An autobiography, Libraries Board of South Australia, Adelaide, 1975, 110 pp. Details
  • Young, Jeanne F, Catherine Helen Spence : a study and an appreciation, Lothian, Melbourne, 1937, 208 pp. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Adelaide, Debra, Australian women writers : a bibliographic guide, Pandora Press, London ; Sydney, 1988, 208 pp. Details
  • Barbara Wall, Catherine Helen Spence: a bibliography, State Library of South Australia, 2001, http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/spence/index.html. Details
  • Daniels, Kay, Uphill all the way, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Qld, 1980, 335 pp. Details
  • Eade, Susan, 'Spence, Catherine Helen (1825-1911)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060190b.htm. Details
  • Elizabeth Kwan, Living in South Australia : a social history, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, S. Aust., 1987, 2 v. (xiv, 194; xiv, 201 p.) pp. Details
  • Gunton, Elizabeth Joan, Bibliography of Catherine Helen Spence / [compiled in the Research Service of the Public Library of South Australia by Elizabeth Gunton, Libraries Board of South Australia, Adelaide, 1967, 34 pp. Details
  • Helen Jones, In her own name. A history of women in South Australia from 1836, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 1986, 356 pp. Details
  • Janet Cooper, Catherine Spence, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1972, 30 pp. Details
  • Johns, Fred, John's Notable Australians, 1906, George Robertson & Company Proprietary Limited, Adelaide, 1905, 218 pp. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details
  • State Library of South Australia; Suzane Fabian and Morag Loh, Catherine Helen Spence: her achievements and firsts, State Library of South Australia, 13 March 1998, http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/int_pubs/women/spence1.htm. Details
  • Suzane Fabian and Morag Loh, The Changemakers : Ten Significant Australian Women, Jacaranda Press, Milton, Qld., 1983, 190 pp. Details
  • Tony Brooks, First of all, AXIOM, Adelaide, 1995. Details

Clare Land

Created: 9 December 2001, Last modified: 13 October 2008

Comments

Hello,
I think this website is great and it is very useful. I am doing a project on Catherine Helen Spence and I was wondering if you could give me some info on her death because NO website EVER has any info on how she died and specific info on her death.
This would be really helpful and appreciate the effort. I understand if there are any difficulties!
Thank-you very much!
Georgia

Georgia - 15 March 2011, 7:10 PM EST

Can anybody help Georgia? I'll have a look around for you.

AWAP Administrator - 23 March 2011, 11:56 AM EST

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