Breeding heirs, smoothing crinolines and patting pastries: nineteenth-century station life through the words of four southern women

Abstract

This thesis examines nineteenth-century station life from the perspective of four women; Catherine Fulton, Frances Caverhill, Kate Thomson and Eunice Upton. Using diaries and letters, it analyses the ordinary occurrences of family and community life, and the workings of Canterbury and Otago station homesteads between 1860 and 1890. This study argues that stereotypes continue to dominate the historiography. Placing another image of station life beside these interpretations, it illuminates the lives of Southern pastoral women. The voices of ordinary Southern pastoral women remain unheard and their daily lives largely unknown. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of nineteenth-century station life in order to gain an insight into the concerns that structured women's lives