WOMEN OF THE WHITSUNDAYS - OUR EARLY SETTLER WOMEN

On July 22, Proserpine Historical Museum is launching a new display, Women of the Whitsundays.

This display acknowledges women, past and present, who have made significant contributions to the community and the celebration fittingly coincides with the centenary of the local Country Women’s Association.

Our early pioneering women were quite remarkable, yet it is a sad reality that the significant contribution they made to the community was often underestimated and certainly undervalued.

• They married young, had large families, and often died in their forties.

• They lived in slab huts with dirt floors and cooked on an outside open fire.

• They often contended with epidemics of measles, whooping cough and infantile paralysis when doctors were few and far between.

• They milked, churned butter and baked bread; they raised chickens and grew vegetables; they preserved fruit – to reduce bills.

• They were good managers, combining home duties with various social activities such as church groups, the hospital sewing group, Red Cross, and the Ambulance Association.

• Many were active and essential members of the business community.

• And they also worked beside the men in the fields cutting and planting cane.

One such early female settler was Mary Adelaide Atkinson.

This incredibly tough and resilient pioneer was born in 1862 in the small village of Millom in Cumberland, England.

In her early twenties, she travelled to Australia on her own on the immigrant boat “Shannon”.

As she suffered ill health, it was thought that Australia’s climate would be suitable for her.

But that was not where her journey ended.

In 1888, she married Robert Atkinson in Roma, Queensland.

They lived and worked in the Adavale area for some years before hearing of the opening up of sugarcane lands in Northern Queensland.

The pull of opportunities for a better life were strong so they decided to chance their fortunes in this emerging industry.

In about 1900, Robert, Mary and six children began the long journey north.

Two horse-drawn drays and some extra horses carried the family’s possessions.

Chickens were slung in cages under the drays.

Five or six goats that provided milk were driven along by the children.

It was an arduous journey along bush tracks.

Robert’s short-term jobs on stations along the route replenished the coffers and the children were able to attend school or join station children in lessons.

Otherwise, Mary taught them what she could manage.

The hardships encountered are best illustrated by the fact that Mary was pregnant during most of the journey of about three years and lost three babies along the way.

Such sadness, a lack of medical assistance and related support as well as the isolation suffered particularly by Mary was typical of this era and the women pioneers.

Mary’s strength was also demonstrated in that she rarely rode on the drays throughout the entire journey – pregnant or not.

Upon their eventual arrival, in Strathdickie, the hardship continued.

A slab hut was built, and the land had to be totally cleared, cultivated, and planted.

With few tools and no machinery these tasks were hard physical work and Mary helped whenever she could.

When their sons enlisted and went to war, the farm was sold.

Mary moved to Chapman Street opposite where the Whitsunday Doctors’ Service operates today.

During her life, she was an active and well-respected midwife in the district.

She opened her home as a nursing home to attend to mothers in confinement.

In all, Mary herself had borne eleven children.

Mary was a true pioneer; a caring woman with a strong spirit; determined, resourceful and resilient.

She died in Proserpine on 29th April 1944 and is buried in the Proserpine cemetery.

We salute you Mary Adelaide Atkinson.

Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum.

‍

Mary Atkinson

‍