Catherine Hay Thomson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Catherine Hay Thomson (? - 1928) was a Scottish-born Australian undercover journalist, literary agent and educator.

Early life and education[]

Catherine Hay Thomson was born in Glasgow, educated in Melbourne and was one of the early female graduates from the University of Melbourne.  

Career[]

Thomson was principal of Queen's College, Ballarat for some time. In 1881 she opened a boarding and day school for girls in Spring Street, Melbourne.[1]

Thomson began writing investigative articles, being referred to in The Bulletin in 1886 as "the female 'Vagabond' of Melbourne".[2][3] Thomson worked as an undercover journalist, disguising herself as a man to visit brothels and taverns investigating corruption which was exposed in her newspaper articles.[2] She investigated undercover as an attendant at the Kew Asylum, a psychiatric hospital in Melbourne[1] and also as an assistant nurse at the Melbourne Hospital.[4]

Thomson was one of the founders of the Austral Salon in 1890,[1] a women’s club to foster literature, music and the arts.[2] In 1899, Thomson and Evelyn Gough became joint proprietors of The Sun: An Australian Journal for the Home and Society.[5][6][7] After the magazine merged with Arena in 1903 Thomson became a literary agent.[8]

Thomson founded the National Council of Women of Victoria in 1902.[2][9]

Personal life[]

Thomson married Thomas Floyd Legge in Melbourne in 1918, aged 72.[1] The wedding was held at the Women Writer’s Club.[1] Thomson died in Cheltenham on 24 July 1928.[10]  

Works[]

  • Thomson, C. Hay (1909), Women writers of Australasia. The Commonwealth of Australia, s.n, retrieved 18 January 2020
  • Thomson, Catherine Hay (August 1906) The Austral Salon: women's clubs in Australia. Womanhood. Vol.16 (93), p.[133]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Davies, Kerrie; McDonald, Willa. "Hidden women of history: Catherine Hay Thomson, the Australian undercover journalist who went inside asylums and hospitals". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  2. ^ a b c d "People of the Rialto | Catherine Hay Thomson". InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto. 2019-05-10. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  3. ^ "THE FEMALE SIDE OF KEW ASYLUM". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 1886-03-26. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  4. ^ "THE INNER LIFE OF THE MELBOURNE HOSPITAL". Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 1886-03-12. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  5. ^ "PIONEER REFORMER". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 1932-01-09. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  6. ^ The Sun : an illustrated journal for the home and society. Sydney : Frank Critchley Parker. 1896.
  7. ^ "The Sun : An Illustrated Journal for the Home and Society | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". Austlit. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  8. ^ "PRG 88/7/1-122 Letters by Catherine Helen Spence to Alice Henry 1900-1910" (PDF). State Library of South Australia. 2010.
  9. ^ "National Council of Women of Victoria". The Argus. 1904-07-30. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
  10. ^ Clarke, Patricia (1988). Pen portraits : women writers and journalists in nineteenth century Australia. Sydney ; London ; New York : Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74269-678-2.
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