Summary

Postcard with a photographic portrait of Lady Northcote, President of the Women's Work Exhibition, 1907. This postcard, a souvenir of the Women's Work Exhibition held at the Exhibition Building from 23 October to 30 November 1907, was posted from the inner-Melbourne suburb Northcote in 1907. The writer of the postcard, F.M., states she is going to reclaim it from the addressee when she returns home to South Australia.
Lady Alice Northcote, wife of Australia's Governor-General Sir Henry Stafford Northcote, Baron Northcote of Exeter, instigated the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work, and held the role of President. Lady Northcote saw the exhibition as a great opportunity to create an educational and celebratory display of women's work.
The First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work showed over 16000 exhibits from Australia and around the world, designed to demonstrate the advance of women into new fields. Exhibits were not categorised into 'paid' and 'unpaid' work, in an effort to recognise the wide range of women's activities. The exhibition included display of arts and craft - painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, pottery, needlework (the most popular section, with over 7,000 examples on display), leatherwork, woodwork, spinning, weaving - alongside displays of laundry work, cooking and physical culture. There were also demonstrations of shorthand and typewriting, music, elocution, games and sports.
One of the most popular features of the Exhibition was the crèche, which allowed women to view the Exhibition while their children were cared for. Notably, the Exhibition was open to all women and girls resident in Australia, including Aboriginal women, at a time when Aboriginals were not enfranchised within the new Commonwealth

Description of Content

Card, printed in black and white. Obverse shows a photographic image of Lady Northcote in an oval frame. Lady Northcote, is dressed in an off-the-shoulder gown with a shawl, and is heavily bejewelled. The reverse has been written on in blue/black ink, and has a franked One Penny stamp in the upper right hand corner.

Physical Description

Card, printed in black and white. Obverse shows a photographic image of Lady Northcote in an oval frame. Lady Northcote, is dressed in an off-the-shoulder gown with a shawl, and is heavily bejewelled. The reverse has been written on in blue/black ink, and has a franked One Penny stamp in the upper right hand corner.

Significance

The museum only holds four souvenirs from the First Australian Women's Work Exhibition, held at the Exhibition Building in 1907: one postcard of a women's choir, a bowl, a cup and a notepad holder. This postcard will make a significant addition to this small group. It is especially nice for the image of Lady Northcote, President of the Exhibition, and wife of the then Governor-General Sir Henry Stafford Northcote. The handwritten message shows that the postcard was considered a souvenir worth keeping, as the sender indicates her desire to reclaim it upon her return home to South Australia. Further, the postcard was posted from the suburb Northcote.

Biography:
Despite the important role Lady Alice played in instigating the First Australian Women's Work Exhibition, very little biographical information exists. The adopted daughter of Canadian railroad tycoon Lord Mount Stephen, Alice Stephen married Sir Henry Stafford Northcote on 2 October 1873. She accompanied her husband to India in 1899, where he held the post of Governor of Bombay until 1903, then to Australia when Sir Henry Northcote was appointed Governor-General for a five year term. At the end of his tenure in 1908, Sir Henry and Lady Northcote returned to England. Sir Henry died in 1911. In 1919, Lady Northcote was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She died in 1934.

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