Digging Deep: Women on New Zealand’s Goldfields by Julia Bradshaw

You might have thought that women on the goldfields of nineteenth-century New Zealand Aotearoa were only wives or prostitutes, in the background to the men, but this well-researched book brings to life fascinating characters who were adventurers, entrepreneurs and women of remarkable resilience.

Rich with photographs, the book features women who ran or owned stores and hotels, barmaids and dancers and even women who were miners. But the challenges were immense – childbirth in unforgiving environments, illness, some were the victims of alcoholism and violence and sexual abuse, and there was the shame of unwanted pregnancies. Some wives were abandoned or widowed.

These women travelled to Golden Bay, Otago, Marlborough, the West Coast and Thames, and for Māori, many were already on the gold fields.

There are so many remarkable women in this handsome non-fiction production, and their circumstances and individual stories are unique and compelling. Some stories are tragic, though, young women dying young in terrible circumstances, while other women prospered through hard work and good decisions.

Digging Deep vividly brings individual women to life in a book that took 30 years to make. This is an exceptional book, with well-written text and fascinating photographs.

Reviewer: Karen McMillan

Canterbury University Press