Women's Work

The Women of the West worked hard to make a home in a harsh environment, but their productivity and creativity weren't simply confined to the home.

The women's work crossed the boundaries between the paid and unpaid, the commercial and domestic, the practical and artistic. Typically, a Woman of the West would often have found herself doing not only housework, but also tending to the vegetable garden and dairy, taking care of other heavy duties around the property, as well as doing craftwork and managing the finances.

The Women of the West have also worked as professionals – whether as nurses, midwives, doctors, accountants, photographers or architects – as well as a myriad of other occupations. In modern management parlance, we could say that they have been multi-skilled.

Butter churn, cooler, mould and pats (c.1920).

A temporary kitchen catered for the family while the homestead was being built.