“Peculiarly” Fitted: The Imperial Career of Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877)
Principal Supervisor: Dr Michael Gladwin
Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Bernard Doherty
This research steps beyond the “practical” persona usually attached to the emigration practitioner, Caroline Chisholm, and pursues an intellectual biography. It aims to build on previous research into her formative years in Northampton (1808–1833) and her Madras years (1833–1838). It asks how
Chisholm commanded authority and attained celebrity in NSW during the early 1840s and in Britain (1846–1854). It reassesses and refines our understanding of her alleged “radicalism.” This research posits a complex intellectual character to her mission that is revealed by considering her
“unsectarian” public praxis and private Catholic piety separately. It also considers her career against a background of utopian impulses in colonization schemes in the mid-nineteenth century.
A love of history motivated my bachelor’s degree major in ancient and modern (American and Australian) history. My fascination with utopian thought began during my Honours year. A love for
Church History followed, developing in part out of my Masters (Hons) research. These earlier studies were undertaken at Macquarie University. More recently, volunteer leading of English as a second language conversation classes encouraged an understanding of the challenges of emigration and an appreciation of all that Caroline Chisholm contributed. It also raised questions for me that I wanted to research. Dr Michael Gladwin, lecturer at St Mark’s Theological College–CSU Canberra, was recommended to me very warmly as a fine scholar well placed to facilitate my research interest. So, I applied to CSU for my doctoral studies and was delighted that he was willing to supervise my HDR research. I also valued CSU’s openness to researchers of all ages and life circumstances.
I was fortunate to be awarded a National Library of Australia summer scholar internship in 2023 which allowed me to explore related archives including the Lang Papers and the Miriam Chisholm Papers.