What was it like being a debutante on the lookout for a husband in the 1800s? Or serving in the Women’s Land Army in the Second World War?

State Library Victoria members can access hundreds of databases from home (if your home is in Victoria). That’s millions of articles, magazines, archives, ebooks, videos, songs, audiobooks and more, available through the catalogue anytime. We’re taking a closer look at new and/or interesting databases as well as hidden gems from our collections. Read on for top picks and tips from Librarians.

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Today we’re looking at our newly acquired database Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 published by AM Digital.

What makes this database so great?

State Library Victoria’s collection development aims have a strong interest in redressing the gender imbalance held in our collections by actively acquiring works by female writers. Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 provides access to a treasure trove of manuscripts, diaries and oral histories, offering a unique insight into the lives of women, their thoughts, feelings and experiences, told in their own words. The database features items from archives across the UK and Ireland such as the National Library of Scotland, the British Library and county archives in Shropshire, Suffolk and Hampshire.

Perhaps the greatest thing about this database is that library users now have access to rare and special collection materials from overseas archives from the comfort of their own home (or by visiting us in the library!).

Finding collection items

From the home page you can navigate to the resources in a few ways. The most helpful being the ‘Thematic Guides’ link which groups resources into themes such as ‘Courtship & Marriage’, ‘Life in Wartime’, ‘Politics & Public Life’, and ‘Travel & Tourism’.

You can also choose to browse by contributing archive by selecting ‘Participating libraries’ from the ‘Introduction’ drop down menu. There are twelve libraries and archives to choose from as well as information about the kinds of resources they have contributed to the database.

The homepage also has some great resources to help you better understand the women who appear in the collection. You can find biographies, online exhibitions which spotlight some of the most intriguing and unique items, as well as essays and interviews with researchers.

Some highlights

Confessions of Witches from the National Library of Scotland

In the 1600s Scotland was in the midst of a mania about witchcraft. The Witchcraft Act 1563 made the practice of witchcraft a capital offence, and sadly most victims of witch hunts were women. The Act was enforced between 1563 and 1736, and this document records the ‘confessions’ of Margaret Duchall and others from Alloa, near Stirling, who were charged with witchcraft and consorting with the devil. Margaret was found guilty alongside three others and was burned.

Beautiful Queensland and Leaves from my Diary by Diana Ramsden from Wigan & Leigh Archives

This diary is of English traveller Diana Ramsden’s visit to Queensland in 1899-1900 and makes for fascinating reading about Australia just before Federation. The diary includes watercolour paintings and drawings of the scenery she encountered as well as evocative descriptions of her time in Brisbane and then her journey by steamer up the coast to the Whitsundays. Ramsden was particularly in awe of the flora and fauna of Queensland, and this interest is reflected in her diary.

Interviews with Women’s Land Army recruits who served from 1939-1950 from Bedfordshire Archives

This collection of oral histories provides first-hand accounts from women who served as ‘Land Girls’ during the Second World War, and explores their working conditions, social life and camaraderie. Each interviewee gives some information on their background, how they came to join the Land Army and what they found the most difficult or most rewarding about their work. Some particularly interesting points include what it was like to work alongside Italian and German POWs, as well as experiences of a bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.

Diary of Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Spencer (nee Seymour) Vol. V from the British Library

Adelaide Seymour’s diary of the 1845 London ‘season’ is written with unexpected sass and wit. The daughter of a Colonel and part of the upper classes, Seymour was just twenty years old when she penned this diary. It makes for juicy reading, such as this entry from 25th June, 1845:

Went to Mrs Damer’s, which I did not think a very nice Ball. Lawrence and Miss Aesketh were there. How he could fall in love with that girl passes my comprehension for she seemed to me to be the dullest of her sex but I suppose £30,000 makes up for a great deal.

Adelaide Seymour remained unmarried until nine years after the events of this diary, when at the age of twenty-nine, she married fifty-six year old Vice-Admiral Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer- making this couple the great-great grandparents of Diana, Princess of Wales.

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We hope you enjoy exploring Women’s voices and life writing, 1600-1968.

We always welcome your recommendations for database trials  – let us know what you’d like to see.  Have a research query or questions on how to use our online collections? Ask a Librarian.

Further reading

If you’d like to know more about Confessions of Witches, you can read a transcript of the confessions and allegations, as well as information about the events that led to the witch trial in this article available through the JSTOR database:

Ferguson, RM, (1906), ‘The Witches of Alloa’, The Scottish Historical Review, vol. 4, no. 13, pp 40-48