Catherine Helen Spence 1825 - 1910
Works of C.H. Spence
| Major Works - Books | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1853 | (1st Book) Clara Morison - A Tale of South Australia During The Gold Fever
| 1856
| (2nd book) Tender & True
| 1861
| (Pamphlet 1,000 copies) - A Plea for Pure Democracy
financed by her brother John and sent to all members of parliament
| 1866
| (Serial novel) published in The Telegraph | (3rd book) Uphill Work - changed in England to Mr. Hogarth's Will (in which she) "...took up the woman question as it appeared to me at the time--the difficulty of a woman earning a livelihood, even when she had as much ability, industry, and perseverance as a man." 1864-6
| (4th book) Doctor's Family
Published anonymously in England and advocating proportional representation in the story
| 1867
| (5th book) Hugh Lindsay's Guest
serialised in The Observer and republished in book form as--
The Author's Daughter
| 1878
| (6th book novel) Gathered In (unpublished until 1977) | (Short story 7 chapters) Hester's Christmas Gift (contributed to the Sydney Mail) (Short stories published in The Australasian) 1880
| (Handbook) The Laws We Live Under
Published for schoolchildren of South Australia to use only during school hours--this 120 page booklet went to a second edition of 5,000 copies | (An Original Acting Charade in 3 acts for 9 actors) 1884
| (Book) An Agnostic's Progress
Printed and published at the expense of Mr. & Mrs. R. Barr Smith
| 1895
| (Novel) Handfasted
Entered for a prize of £100 by The Sydney Mail - the judges considered it was "too socialistic and consequently dangerous". (published in 1984)
| 1907
| (Pamphlet Written for The Boarding-out Committee -
Committee started by Miss Caroline Emily Clark in Adelaide 1877?)
Boarding-out and its Developments - State Children in Australia
| 1910
| An Autobiography of her life up to 1887 (completed after her death by her companion in Effective Voting, Jeanne F. Young)
| |
Career as a Journalist
1843
Her first letter to the Editor of a newspaper (aged 18) - in the Adelaide Register
1851
Put in charge of the Melbourne Argus with brother John - writes reviews on many subjects of the day including:-
1859
As Adelaide correspondent for the Melbourne Argus - starts writing a series of articles supporting John Stuart Mill's advocacy of Thomas Hare's System of proportional representation - editor refuses to publish them.
1861
Article supporting John Stuart Mill's advocacy of Thomas Hare's system of proportional representation published in the Adelaide Register (signed by her initials)
1866
An article published in The Cornhill Magazine January 1866 on a return visit to Scotland in 1864
1864-6
Re-writes an article for Edward Wilson in The Fortnightly England
(Wilson's cure for the excesses of democracy)
1877-85
Articles for The Melbourne Review including:-
1877
Article first published in the Adelaide Register and then commissioned in The Sydney Morning Herald - which canvassed the question of the taxation of land values.
(published unsigned)
"In South Australia the first tax on unimproved land values was imposed. ...I cannot, however, write my autobiography without giving prominence to the fact that I was the pioneer in Australia in this as in the other matter of proportional representation." (Autobiography p.66)
1878 to 1893
(Commenced as literary reviewer for the Adelaide Register and contributed under the pen-name 'A Colonist of 1839' also other signed articles - mostly Letters to the Editor)
Catherine Helen Spence also compiled Acrostics & Double Acrostics for the The Riddler which appeared in The Observer and The Evening Journal.
Compiled a book of Charades and Double Acrostics called Silver Wattle to raise funds for the home for incurables.
1893
In San Francisco entered a competition for $500 with an essay on Electoral Reform
1895? Article for The Centennial, Sydney
A Last Word
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