My research examines the crucial role that women played in the Methodist Overseas Mission in the early 20th century. Through the analysis of mission journals, diary entries and historical photographs, my study reveals the entwined lives of resident Aboriginal women and white European missionaries. Central to my analysis is Constance ‘Amy’ Corfield, a white missionary whose personal diary illuminates the relationships that occurred on South Goulburn Island, largely through her sewing classes. In addition to encouraging cross-cultural interactions and craft activities, Methodist theology and gender evangelism frameworks allowed women to navigate innovations and European ideas of domesticity. My study places these women in the context of larger historiographies of gender, missionary work, domesticity and selfhood. It draws attention to how missionary women were frequently marginalised in the archives and how the skill of Aboriginal women was disregarded as crude. My work reframes the story of early modern missions by connecting the institutional history of the Methodist Overseas Mission with the lived experiences of women. It shows how women’s contributions, such as Amy’s, were crucial to the development of thriving religious communities in Arnhem Land. 

I am a student member of the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice and a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society that recognises academic achievement.