Louisa Lawson example essay topic

Ordinary, everyday Australian people are often doing extraordinary things. It could be a young child saving someone in a fire, or just by helping out the homeless. These people often show bravery, friendship, and qualities of endurance, adaptability and democracy. Nowadays this is know as ANZAC spirit, but before there was the ANZAC's there was a woman called Louisa Lawson, who spent her entire life fighting for women to be given the right to vote and be equals. Now her life is remembered on a collection of stamps. Born in 1848 Louisa Lawson was a clever, thoughtful girl who married at the age of 18.

She moved with her husband to a bark hut on the goldfields, and led a lonely and hard life. With her husband often away she was forced to bring up her children alone and with very little money. One of her children was soon to become a famous writer - Henry Lawson. In 1883 she left her husband and spent the rest of her life working to help other woman.

She ran groups to improve their health and the way they lived. Louisa published a magazine to give women information, called The Dawn and it lasted 17 years. Only women were allowed to work on this magazine and many male publishers did not like this. During the seventeen years it's political and social impact played a major role in promoting legislative changes that greatly changed the lives of the Australian women at the turn of the century. The Dawn first came out in Sydney on May 15, 1888 with all articles written by Louisa under then alias Dora Falconer. July 1905 was when the last issue came out.

In the first meeting of "The Dawn Club" (founded in 1889 as a place where women could debate ways to achieve social reform) Louisa questioned the male domination of laws and government saying 'Why should one half of the world govern the other half" The Dawn Club was the starting point of the New South Wales Women's Suffrage League (New South Wales Women's Suffrage League was formed in 1891 to campaign for, and finally achieve in 1902, the right for women to vote). Louisa mainly focused on white women's rights and urged her readers to sympathise the Aboriginal women. Louisa saw these women as a separate race which she clearly stated after New South Wales women gained the right to vote. When Louisa retired in 1905 she continued to write articles and short stories for other magazines. In August of 1920 she died in Glades ville mental hospital. A tragic end for the inspirational woman, who showed great courage and worked to improve the lives of her fellow women.

Louisa showed "the ANZAC spirit" in many ways. She was a tough woman who fought for the right of female voting and the right of them being equals. She could endure the anger of the men who opposed her journal "The Dawn" She would of learnt to shrug off any hate filled comments. She stuck up for her fellow Australian women. Louisa was a tough woman who paved the way Australian Women live today.