Catherine Helen Spence

Catherine Helen Spence died on 3 April 1910 in Norwood, South Australia at the age of 84.

At the time of her death, she was writing her autobiography, ‘Catherine Helen Spence: An Autobiography’, which was posthumously completed by Jeanne F. Young.

She is commemorated with a bronze statue in Light Square, a building after her name in the University of South Australia and a wing after her name in the State Library of South Australia.

Spence was born on 31 October 1825 in Melrose, Scotland to David S., an attorney and the first Town clerk of the City of Adelaide, and Helen (Brodie) Spence.

She was the fifth child in a family of eight siblings. Her brother John Brodie Spence went on to become a well-known banker.

In 1839, because of economic difficulties, her family shifted to South Australia, which was a British colony at that time. Spence was initially overwhelmed by the contrast to her homeland.

Her family had to go through “encampment” for seven months after which they moved to Adelaide.

She started working as a governess in Adelaide from the age of 17.

Her first work was a novel, ‘Clara Morison: A Tale of South Australia During the Gold Fever’, published anonymously in 2 volumes by J W Parker and Son in 1854.

In 1856, her second novel, ‘Tender and True’ was published in 2 volumes again. The book became popular and ran into its third edition.

Her third novel in 3 volumes was published in Australia as ‘Uphill Work’ and in England as ‘Mr. Hogarth’s Will’ in 1865. This was the first book that bore her name as an author.

In 1881-82, she wrote ‘Gathered In’ which came out as a series in ‘Observer’ and in 1880 she published ‘Hand Fasted’, a novel that was rejected by the ‘Sydney Mail’.

In 1888, she published her last major work of fiction — ‘A Week in the Future’, the narrative of a utopia.

In 1872 Spence assisted Caroline Emily Clark to found the Boarding-Out Society, an organization that supported orphaned, poor, and reformed aberrant children. In 1872-86, Spence was an official of the Society.

In 1886, she became a member of the State Children's Council and in 1877, she was appointed to the School Board for East Torrens.

In 1880, she published ‘The Laws We Live Under’, the first social studies textbook to be used in Australian schools.

Spence was greatly influenced by Thomas Hare's system of proportional representation. So, in 1892 she put forward the adapted Hare-Spence system to achieve truly proportionate demonstration of political parties. By then Spence had become a proficient public speaker, and had addressed the Australasian conferences on charity (1891 and 1892).

In 1891, she joined the female suffrage movement and became a vice-president of the Women's Suffrage League of South Australia.