Digging Deep: Julia Bradshaw at Heritage South’s AGM
As part of Heritage South’s Annual General Meeting held on 15 August, we had the pleasure of welcoming Julia Bradshaw as our guest speaker. Julia, a museum curator, historian, and author, also met with Senga prior to the event to record two insightful podcast episodes—links to those recordings are included below. Her kōrero, titled Digging Deep – Women on the Southern Goldfields, offered a compelling look into the lives of women who shaped Southland’s goldfields history and beyond.
Drawing on her extensive experience at the Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown and the Hokitika Museum, Julia captivated the audience with vivid accounts of women whose contributions have long been overlooked. Her research spans:
New Zealand’s gold rushes
Pounamu and Chinese heritage
Women’s stories in remote places
Uncovering the Women Behind the Goldfields
Julia Bradshaw has spent over two decades uncovering the hidden lives of women on New Zealand’s goldfields. Her forthcoming book, Digging Deep: Women on the New Zealand Goldfields, challenges the narrow portrayals that have long defined these women as either dutiful wives or prostitutes. Through meticulous research and a passion for justice in storytelling, Bradshaw has brought to light the diverse roles women played—entrepreneurs, adventurers, hotelkeepers, and survivors—whose contributions were often erased or obscured in traditional accounts.
Unravelling the Threads — Women Who Changed Their Names..
One of the most compelling figures Bradshaw uncovered is Margaret O'Dear, a woman whose life defied easy categorisation. Known variously as Margaret Mills, Margaret Talley, and Margaret Kennedy, she ran hotels in Queenstown and on the West Coast, changed names to suit her circumstances, and navigated complex personal relationships. During a court case, it was revealed she had been married to a man named Kennedy, though she never used his surname publicly. Her story exemplifies the challenges historians face when tracing women through archival records—especially when they are listed only by their husband’s name or deliberately obscured their identities to escape past lives.
Bradshaw’s research also led to the publication of an article titled Unmarried by Default: Quiet Bigamy in the New Zealand Goldfields, which explores how many women entered new relationships without formal divorce or legal recognition. While some cases of bigamy were prosecuted and reported in newspapers, Bradshaw found numerous instances that went unnoticed—women quietly remarrying or reinventing themselves in frontier communities where legal oversight was minimal. These stories reveal a nuanced social landscape where survival often meant bending or ignoring convention.
Through her work, Julia Bradshaw has become a collector of stories—piecing together fragments from newspapers, court records, and museum archives to restore women’s voices to the historical record. Her commitment to uncovering truth and complexity offers a richer, more inclusive view of New Zealand’s goldfields era. Digging Deep promises to be a landmark contribution to women’s history, illuminating lives that were once hidden in the margins.
Magdalene Orchiston — Registrar, Pioneer, and Quiet Trailblazer…
Another standout figure in Julia’s research is Miss Magdalene Jane Orchiston, a pioneering registrar and postmistress in Waikaia. Known for her precision and quiet authority, Magdalene was reputedly the first female registrar appointed in the British dominions, and was empowered to solemnise marriages. In one striking episode, she refused to proceed with a marriage ceremony after discovering the groom was already legally married—a bold move that upheld the law and protected the integrity of her office. Her decision caused a stir in the community, but she stood firm, reinforcing her reputation as a principled and meticulous public servant. Her story adds a layer of moral courage to the goldfields narrative, reminding us that women shaped frontier society not only through survival, but through leadership.
Image for story telling purposes