Caroline Chisholm: An Irresistible Force: How One Extraordinary Woman Helped Shape a Nation by Sarah Goldman

Book Description

Secondhand. Near fine condition.

Arriving in Australia in 1838, Caroline Chisholm was appalled by the plight of young female immigrants in Australia. There were no jobs for them, no accommodation, and many resorted to prostitution to survive. In response to this need, Caroline became a woman on a mission.

She met every immigrant ship and became a familiar figure on the wharves, finding positions for immigrant girls and sheltering many of them in her home. As the government of the day refused to help, Chisholm established accommodation, services and the first employment office in the colony, drawing up the first-ever employment contracts in Australia. She established minimum wages, found jobs and homes, created employment agencies in a dozen rural centres as well, and managed to do all this without any assistance from the government.

In many ways, a proto-feminist and committed social activist, she utterly transformed life in Australia. (inside flap)