Catherine Helen Spence Quotes

Catherine Helen Spence was born in Melrose, Scotland. She was a Scottish-born Australian author, novelist, teacher, journalist, social worker and politician. In 1897 she became Australia's first female political candidate after standing for the Federal Convention held in Adelaide. Called the "Greatest Australian Woman" by Miles Franklin and given the nomenclature of "Grand Old Woman of Australia' on her eightieth birthday, Spence was commemorated on the Australian five-dollar note issued for the Centenary of Federation of Australia. Her first work was the novel Clara Morison: A Tale of South Australia During the Gold Fever. Her second novel Tender and True was published in 1856. Spence had a talent for writing and an urge to be read, so it was natural that in her teens she became attracted to journalism.