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Caroline Chisholm, 1808-1877: ordinary woman - extraordinary life, impossible category
thesis
posted on 2011-02-15, 14:30 authored by Carole A. WalkerThe purpose of this thesis is to look at the motivations behind the life and work of Caroline Chisholm, nee
Jones, 1808-1877, and to ascertain why British historians have chosen to ignore her contribution to the
nineteenth century emigration movement, while attending closely to such women as Nightingale for example.
The Introduction to the thesis discusses the difficulties of writing a biography of a nineteenth century
woman, who lived at the threshold of modernity, from the perspective of the twenty-first century, in the
period identified as late modernity or postmodernity. The critical issues of writing a historical biography are
explored. Chapter Two continues the debate in relation to the Sources, Methods and Problems that have
been met with in writing the thesis.
Chapters Three to Seven consider Chisholm's life and work in the more conventional narrative format,
detailing where new evidence has been found. By showing where misinformation and errors have arisen in
earlier biographies that have been perpetuated by subsequent biographies, they give specificity to the debate
discussed in the Introduction.
Chapters Eight to Ten discuss, in far greater depth than a conventional narrative format allows, the relevant
political, religious and social influences which shaped and influenced Chisholm's life, and which facilitate
an understanding of her motivation and character.
History
School
- Social Sciences
Department
- Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies
Publisher
© Carole WalkerPublication date
2001Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.490559Language
- en