# Talk:Catherine Helen Spence

The claim that CHS was the first woman to stand for public office in Australia seems unlikely. Pete 09:36, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Because "public office" is ambiguous (and perhaps misleading), I have reworded the associated statement. She was indeed Australia's first female political candidate, but whether the Federal Conventions constitute "public office", I am unsure. She never stood for Parliament. In any case, I intend to expand the article - with references ;).--Cyberjunkie 14:57, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I'm still not sure that she was Australia's first female political candidate, whether unsuccessful or not. I have the collection of her writings edited by Helen Thomson (into which I am delighted to find that I had tucked a pristine example of the $5 note to serve as a bookmark and then forgotten), but Helen the editor doesn'5t say whether CGS was the first candidate or not, and CHS in the portion of her autobiography included gives herself no more than a line on the subject, merely saying that she was unsuccessful.
She was a remarkable woman, and has long been one of my heroes. It is a shame that she was not elected, for then amongst the generally white male bearded middle class Founding Fathers, we would have had a Mother!
She certainly deserves more room in Wikidedia than she currently occupies, but I fear that I would find it hard to know when to stop, because I would like to sing her praises endlessly.  However, I shall at least roll up my sleeves and make a start. Pete 23:38, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)
South Australia was the first in the world to grant women the right to political candidacy, and indeed, the only place in Australia to have granted said right at the time of the Federal Conventions. From my reading on the web so far (I haven't had time to access literature), this website (see 1897) prepared by the State Library of South Australia, showing significant dates for South Australian women, concurs.--Cyberjunkie 07:57, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Fair enough. Makes her all the more courageous! Pete 08:50, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
What does this bot entry mean - Simple: Catherine Spence. I have never seen that form and Wikipedia should reflect current and past usage not push it in new directions. It's not something to go to the barricades over, but it seems pointless.--Doug butler (talk) 15:25, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

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Is there no portrait of Spence as a young woman? We have three similar pictures of her as a dowager. Doug butler (talk) 23:51, 22 April 2025 (UTC)

... that by the time of her death, Catherine Helen Spence (pictured) was known as the "Grand Old Woman of Australia"?

ALT1: ... that the final novel by Catherine Helen Spence (pictured) remained unpublished for over a century after being labelled "socialistic" and "dangerous"? Source: Walston Joseph, Terra (2011). "A 'curious political and social experiment': a settler utopia, feminism and a greater Britain in Catherine Helen Spence's Handfasted". In Wagner, Tamara (ed.). Victorian Settler Narratives: Emigrants, Cosmopolitans and Returnees in Nineteenth-Century Literature. London: Routledge. p. 207. doi:10.4324/9781315655796. ISBN 978-1-315-65579-6. and Magarey, Susan (2010) [1985]. Unbridling the Tongues of Women: A Biography of Catherine Helen Spence. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9806723-1-2. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
Reviewed:

MCE89 (talk) 04:21, 20 October 2025 (UTC).

 Working, I'll review this. TarnishedPathtalk 10:40, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

Hook eligibility:

Cited:  - ?
Interesting: 

Overall:  All good to go with ALT0. @MCE89: if I can get a quote for ALT1. Once that is provided I'll approve that hook also. TarnishedPathtalk 10:50, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the review @TarnishedPath! Here's the quote for ALT1 with the relevant bits bolded:
It is understandable, then, that when Spence submitted the manuscript of Handfasted to The Sydney Mail in 1879 hoping to win a £100 prize, she was informed by the judge that her novel ‘was calculated to loosen the marriage tie – it was too socialistic, and consequently dangerous’. Spence’s frank acknowledgement of pre-marital sex and her failure to criticize it no doubt was largely responsible for the manuscript’s rejection and its consequent obscurity, which remained so until 1984 when the first and only edited version was published
The fact that it was her final novel is supported by p.45 of the other listed source, which should be freely accessible.MCE89 (talk) 11:01, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
 @MCE89 thanks for that, it wanted me to create an account when I attempted to access the source and I wasn't up for that. Anyway, both hooks approved with a preference for ATL1, which I think is more interesting. TarnishedPathtalk 11:30, 20 October 2025 (UTC)