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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Matthew, Kate

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Matthew, Kate

Author

Kate Matthew is a PhD student at the University of Western Sydney

Governesses as Author

Lucas, John as Author

Lucas, Nathaniel as Author

Lucas, Olivia as Author

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Governesses

Working as a governess was one of the few respectable occupations for middle-class women in the nineteenth century, but governesses were placed in a difficult social position, living with the families they worked for, but not being regarded as on the same level. The women who came to Sydney as governesses were the main providers of education for girls, and their roles and attainments changed as attitudes to women's education altered over the century.

Lucas, John

Born into a convict family that made good, John Lucas became a businessman, politician and participant in many public debates in late nineteenth-century Sydney.

Lucas, Nathaniel

Convict, carpenter, miller, trader and family man, Nathaniel Lucas made good in the colony and founded a large family.

Lucas, Olivia

Founder of a large and successful colonial family, Olivia Gascoigne teamed up with Nathaniel Lucas, convict and carpenter, soon after her arrival in the colony, and together they did well, despite hardships and tragedy.