Mary Fortune - it almost sounds like a made up name. However, although Mary did use numerous pseudonyms, this wasn’t one of them. Mary Fortune saw the Irish Potato Famine, the construction of Canada’s railways, the violence and despair of the Australian goldfields and rise rise and fall of Marvellous Melbourne - at the time one of the richest cities in the world. She established a name for herself as a top journalist and writer of crime fiction, and forged a career most women were locked out of. But she also had personal demons - struggles with alcohol, poverty and a criminal son. Her life - its disappointments and its opportunities - in many ways mirrors the colonial society in which she lived.

Sources/Further Reading:

Brown, Megan and Sussex, Lucy: Outrageous Fortunes - The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-Writer, and Her Criminal Son George

Melbourne Museum: Marvellous Melbourne https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/resources/marvellous-melbourne/

Sussex, Lucy: Mary Fortune https://victorianfictionresearchguides.org/mary-fortune/

National Museum Australia: Defining Moments - Federation https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/federation

Michel, Alice: Hidden Fortunes of Colonial Australian Popular Fiction: Women in Mary Fortune’s “Dora Carleton”

https://moujique.savana-hosting.cz/easa_wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/02-Alice-Michel-Hidden-Fortunes-of-Colonial-Australian-Fiction_PAGC.pdf

Michel, Alice: Unconventional Memoirs: Mary Fortune’s Account of Life on the Diggings

https://journals.openedition.org/ces/4138

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Berengaria of Navarre was married to one of England’s best known kings, and the daughter in law of a famous Queen. However she herself is less well known - despite living a very interesting life. She went on crusade, became stranded on an island, worried about her kidnapped husband and then ran her own independent territory for 2 decades. She never gave up and refused to simply fade away, even when her in-laws would have preferred she did. Berengaria was a real quiet achiever

Sources/Further Reading

Weir, Alison: Queens of The Crusades - England’s Medieval Queens

Weir, Alison: Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God Queen of England

Norton, Elizabeth: England’s Queens - From Boudicca to Elizabeif of York

Russell, Gareth: The Crusader's Bride: The Life of Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England https://garethrussellcidevant.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-crusaders-bride-life-of-berengaria.html

Wikipedia: Berengaria of Navarre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Navarre

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Berengaria of Navarre was married to one of England’s best known kings, and the daughter in law of a famous Queen. However she herself is less well known - despite living a very interesting life. She went on crusade, became stranded on an island, worried about her kidnapped husband and then ran her own independent territory for 2 decades. She never gave up and refused to simply fade away, even when her in-laws would have preferred she did. Berengaria was a real quiet achiever

Sources/Further Reading

Weir, Alison: Queens of The Crusades - England’s Medieval Queens

Weir, Alison: Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God Queen of England

Norton, Elizabeth: England’s Queens - From Boudicca to Elizabeif of York

Russell, Gareth: The Crusader's Bride: The Life of Berengaria of Navarre, Queen of England https://garethrussellcidevant.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-crusaders-bride-life-of-berengaria.html

Wikipedia: Berengaria of Navarre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berengaria_of_Navarre

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Lizzie Borden was suspected, arrested, tried and ultimately acquitted of a brutal murder, and that is why she is famous - or infamous. But her life is also an interesting insight into how middle-class American women lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She may have been found not guilty in court, but public opinion was very different - and the murder completely changed her life.

Sources/Further Reading

Sullivan, Robert: Goodbye Lizzie Borden

Rebellion, Leonard: Lizzie Borden, Past & Present

Axelron-Contrada, Joan: The Lizzie Borden Axe Murder Trial - A Headline Court Case

Conforti, Joseph: How Lizzie Borden Got Away with Murder https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-lizzie-borden-got-away-with-murder-180972707/

Last Will and Testament of Lizzie Borden https://phayemuss.wordpress.com/source-documents/

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Lizzie Borden was suspected, arrested, tried and ultimately acquitted of a brutal murder, and that is why she is famous - or infamous. But her life is also an interesting insight into how middle-class American women lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She may have been found not guilty in court, but public opinion was very different - and the murder completely changed her life.

Sources/Further Reading

Sullivan, Robert: Goodbye Lizzie Borden

Rebellion, Leonard: Lizzie Borden, Past & Present

Axelron-Contrada, Joan: The Lizzie Borden Axe Murder Trial - A Headline Court Case

Conforti, Joseph: How Lizzie Borden Got Away with Murder https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-lizzie-borden-got-away-with-murder-180972707/

Last Will and Testament of Lizzie Borden https://phayemuss.wordpress.com/source-documents/

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Gráinne Ni Mháille, known in English as Grace O’Malley, was a woman who broke all the rules. In the 16th Century - a time when women were not considered local leaders and didn’t go out on boats - she ruled over her own fleet of ships, sailing out to trade and raid all along the rugged West Coast of Ireland. She fought against the brutal English Governor and took her case all the way to the top - meeting Queen Elizabeth 1st in London in 1593. She was a remarkable woman - a trader, a pirate and a survivor.

Sources/Further Reading

Chambers, Anne: Ireland’s Pirate Queen - the True Story of Grace O’Malley

Cook, Judith: Pirate Queen - The Life of Grace O’Malley

Goldsmith, Margie: Ireland’s Most Famous Pirate Queen - Grace O’Malley https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2022/11/22/irelands-most-famous-pirate-queen-grace-omalley/

Williams, Emma Slattery (History Extra): Grace O’Malley - The Fearless Pirate Queen of Ireland https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/grace-o-malley-pirate-queen-ireland-irish-history-biography-facts-grainne-ni-mhaille/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O'Malley

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Gráinne Ni Mháille, known in English as Grace O’Malley, was a woman who broke all the rules. In the 16th Century - a time when women were not considered local leaders and didn’t go out on boats - she ruled over her own fleet of ships, sailing out to trade and raid all along the rugged West Coast of Ireland. She fought against the brutal English Governor and took her case all the way to the top - meeting Queen Elizabeth 1st in London in 1593. She was a remarkable woman - a trader, a pirate and a survivor.

Sources/Further Reading

Chambers, Anne: Ireland’s Pirate Queen - the True Story of Grace O’Malley

Cook, Judith: Pirate Queen - The Life of Grace O’Malley

Goldsmith, Margie: Ireland’s Most Famous Pirate Queen - Grace O’Malley https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2022/11/22/irelands-most-famous-pirate-queen-grace-omalley/

Williams, Emma Slattery (History Extra): Grace O’Malley - The Fearless Pirate Queen of Ireland https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/grace-o-malley-pirate-queen-ireland-irish-history-biography-facts-grainne-ni-mhaille/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O'Malley

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Eva Peron was born into a working class family and died as Evita, the beloved mother to Argentina. Her life went from a dusty and rural Pueblo to a stage in front of a million-strong crowd. She was both loved and loathed, admired and feared - she had a lot of power and influence, but she also worked exceptionally hard to try and improve the lives of the Argentine people. Perhaps one thing everyone can agree on is that she was a polarising and interesting figure who achieved a lot in a very short life.

Sources/Further Reading

Fraser, Nicholas and Navarro, Marysa., : Evita - The Real Life of Eva Perón

Mattern, Joanne: Eva Peron

Main, Mary: Evita The Woman with the Whip

Scarpa, Anna: Uncovering the Megalomania Behind Evita Paron https://pages.nyu.edu/keefer/ww1/scarpa.html

Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Eva Peron: https://www.thecollector.com/eva-peron-things-you-didnt-know/

Wikipedia: Eva Peron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Per%C3%B3n

Brittanica.Com: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eva-Peron

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