Melbourne's Hidden Women of History Preview

Violet will lead you through the city to uncover seven remarkable women whose stories have often been overshadowed, forgotten or hidden within the pages of history. Today, you’ll discover their secrets, walk the streets where their lives unfolded, and hear how they challenged convention, endured hardship, fought for change and helped shape Melbourne in ways that can still be felt today.

Some of their names may be familiar. Others may be completely new to you. But each left her mark on this city.

Violet will be waiting for you again at the end of your journey. For now, put on your headphones, press "next", and begin uncovering Melbourne’s Hidden Women of History.

Elizabeth Scott was just 23 when she was condemned for the murder of her husband, Robert Scott. On 11 November 1863, she was hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol, becoming the first woman executed in the Colony of Victoria.

Mary Fortune was one of Australia’s earliest female crime and detective writers, publishing hundreds of stories while largely hiding behind pseudonyms. Later in life, her own circumstances brought her into the very police and court system she had spent years writing about.

Catherine Hay Thomson went undercover as an assistant nurse at Melbourne Hospital in 1886, exposing filthy linen, overcrowding and poor hospital practices in The Argus. She later went undercover again at Kew Asylum, where her reporting on conditions in the women’s wards earned her the wonderfully rebellious nickname “The Female Vagabond.”

Constance Stone was Victoria’s first woman to be registered as a doctor, breaking into a profession that had largely excluded women. She later helped establish the Queen Victoria Hospital for Women and Children, staffed by women and created to give female doctors the opportunities they had been denied.

Nellie Stewart was one of Australia’s most beloved stage stars, affectionately known as “Our Nell.” But behind the applause and glamour, Nellie carried a secret she kept hidden from the world.

Vida Goldstein was a fearless campaigner for women’s rights and one of Australia’s most influential suffragists. In 1903, she became one of the first women in the British Empire to stand for a national parliament — determined to give women a voice in the laws that governed their lives.

Ellen Creswell was a Melbourne tailoress who refused to accept another cut to already meagre wages. In 1882, she helped lead hundreds of women out of the clothing factories and into collective action — helping establish the Tailoresses’ Association of Melbourne and proving just how powerful working women could be when they stood together.

As your journey comes to an end, take a moment to think about the women you’ve met today. For generations, many of their stories were hidden in the shadows of Melbourne’s history — overshadowed, forgotten, or known only in fragments.

Today, you uncovered some of their secrets and walked the streets where their lives unfolded. You discovered women who challenged expectations, endured hardship, broke barriers and fought for change — often without knowing how far the consequences of their actions would reach.

Their names may not dominate Melbourne’s monuments or history books, but their influence is woven into the city around you. They helped shape Melbourne. And today, their stories have been brought out of the shadows and remembered once more.