Louisa Atkinson (1834-1872) was a writer, illustrator and botanist who wrote natural history sketches for the Sydney Morning Herald from 1859. According to Patricia Clarke (1988), she was the first woman in Australia to contribute a regular column to a capital city newspaper. Her sketches were published in the Sydney Morning Herald under the title “Voice from the Country” and were ‘written in a clear, factual, journalistic style’ (Clarke, 40). They were republished in the weekly Sydney Mail.
From 1864 to 1870, she also contributed regularly to Horticultural
Magazine.
Selected Articles
- “A Voice from the Country – November”, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December, 1859
- “A Voice from the Country – December”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 January, 1860
- “A Voice from the Country – January”, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March, 1860
Bibliography
Clarke, Patricia (1988) Pen Portraits: Women Writers and Journalists in Nineteenth Century Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney