Jeannie Lockett Explained

Jeannie Lockett
Birth Date:1847 8, df=y
Period:1883–1892
Notable Works:"Divorce Considered from a Woman's Point of View"
Birth Name:Jane Beattie
Birth Place:Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
Death Place:Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia

Jane Lockett (27 August 1847 – 14 November 1890), better known as Jeannie Lockett, was an Australian feminist and schoolteacher. Her articles on women's social and political issues, including divorce, were published in England in the 1880s. She also wrote short stories and non-fiction for the Australian press, sometimes as Jennie Lockett or Jeannie Leckett or Beattie. Her novel, Judith Grant, was published posthumously.

Life

Born Jane Beattie on 27 August 1847 in Bathurst, New South Wales,[1] she was one of 15 children of writer Mary Anne (died 1906)[2] and Hugh Beattie (died 1890).[3] The family later settled at Wagga Wagga where Hugh established the Brooklyn vineyard. She married Thomas Lockett in Wagga on 27 May 1868. He was a blacksmith who had grown up on the goldfields at Lambing Flat (now Young).[4]

Lockett left her husband in Wagga Wagga and moved to Sydney with her three young children, some time after their maid, Anne Blake, was sentenced to one year in Goulburn gaol for attempted suicide.[5] According to historian Caroline Hardy, Blake, who was pregnant at the time, may have been seduced by Thomas.[6] Lockett did not, however, divorce him. Marriage and divorce were common themes in her writing.

After her marriage broke down, Lockett worked as a student teacher from 1877 and then assistant schoolteacher at Hamilton Public School in 1880.[7] In 1884 at Camperdown Public School she received a promotion.[8] In 1888 she had been transferred to Plunkett Street Public School as mistress overseeing the female students.[9] She also tutored students sitting for matriculation examinations for university entrance.

Alongside her teaching, Lockett sent articles on the Australian social and political scene which were published in The Westminster Review, The Nineteenth Century (TNC) and St James's Gazette.[10] In 1885 her article on "Female Labour in Australia" was published in TNC in the hope of attracting women migrate to Australia to work as domestic servants. It was republished in The Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, described as a "well-written paper"[11] but a review in the Australian Town and Country Journal felt it would do little to lessen the servant shortage.[12]

Lockett's only novel, Judith Grant, was published posthumously by Hutchinson & Co in London. The literary critic for The Age wrote that the book "shows power which, with a little experience, might have placed her in a high position amongst English authors" and that "the gradual development of Judith's character and her change from Calvinism to a species of Pantheism are well drawn; but the hero is at best a poor creature".[13] Judith Grant was republished by the British Library in 2011 as one of the Historical Print Editions.[14]

In the Australian Woman's Mirror in 1926, "Pacla" wrote that Lockett had influenced Sir Alfred Stephen's writing (he had drafted the NSW Divorce Amendment and Extension Act), following publication of her article on the subject in The Nineteenth Century, a London literary journal. Pacla had heard Stephen say that "she had put the matter so much better than he had been able to do that he had torn up three of his own articles just ready to post to England".[15] The series, "Divorce Considered from a Woman's Point of View", was republished in Wagga Wagga Express, which acknowledged The Westminster Review as the original publisher.[16]

Death and personal

Lockett died aged 43 on 14 November 1890 at St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst[17] and she was buried at Waverley Cemetery.[18] Her niece, the poet, Mary Gilmore, wrote a detailed article about the Beattie family and its connection to Wagga Wagga.[19] Gilmore also believed that it was through Lockett's activism that public school teachers were permitted to publish their writing.[20]

Selected works

Non-fiction

Short stories

Novel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jeannie Lockett . 2024-05-12 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
  2. News: 21 July 1906 . The Late Mrs. H. Beattie . 12 May 2024 . Wagga Wagga Express . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . XLVII . 8313.
  3. News: 15 March 1890 . Obituary. . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 6 . National Library of Australia . 712.
  4. News: 8 August 1921 . Mr Thomas Lockett . 12 May 2024 . Tweed Daily . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . VIII . 185.
  5. News: 1 March 1873 . Wagga Wagga Police Court . 15 July 2024 . Wagga Wagga Advertiser and Riverine Reporter . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . V . 457.
  6. Web site: Maguire . Mercedes . 2020-12-12 . Marriage scandal inspired woman ahead of her time . 2024-07-14 . NewsBank.com.
  7. News: 22 June 1880 . Government Gazette Appointments and Employment . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 3053 . National Library of Australia . 233.
  8. News: 1 April 1884 . Government Gazette Appointments and Employment . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 2194 . National Library of Australia . 148.
  9. News: 18 July 1888 . GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 7 . National Library of Australia . 15,700.
  10. News: 29 November 1890 . The Late Mrs. Jeannie Lockett . 15 July 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 33 . National Library of Australia . XLI . 1089.
  11. News: 27 February 1886 . Female Labour in Australia . 12 May 2024 . Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 2 (Supplement to the Bathurst Free Press) . National Library of Australia.
  12. News: 26 December 1885 . Sydney Reflections . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 29 . National Library of Australia . XXXII . 833.
  13. News: 24 December 1892 . Anglo-Australian Notes . 15 July 2024 . . Victoria, Australia . 8 . National Library of Australia . 11804.
  14. Book: Lockett, Jeannie . Judith Grant . British Library . 2011 . 978-1240886098.
  15. 9 March 1926 . Women in the World . Australian Woman's Mirror . en . 2 . 15 . 2024-07-14 . Trove.
  16. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 23 August 1890 . Divorce Considered . 15 July 2024 . Wagga Wagga Express . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . XXXI . 5699.
  17. News: 15 November 1890 . Family Notices . 12 May 2024 . . New South Wales, Australia . 1 . National Library of Australia . 3551.
  18. News: 15 November 1890 . Family Notices . 12 May 2024 . The Daily Telegraph . New South Wales, Australia . 8 . National Library of Australia . 3551.
  19. News: Gilmore . Mary . 4 July 1933 . The Beatties of Brooklyn . 12 May 2024 . Daily Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia.
  20. via Google, no page number given
  21. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 10 November 1883 . The Ladies: Dietary for Families . 12 May 2024 . The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 874 . National Library of Australia . XXXVI . 1218.
  22. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 30 August 1890 . Divorce Considered . 15 July 2024 . Wagga Wagga Express . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . XXXI . 5702.
  23. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 6 September 1890 . Divorce Considered . 15 July 2024 . Wagga Wagga Express . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . XXXI . 5706.
  24. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 13 September 1890 . Divorce Considered . 15 July 2024 . Wagga Wagga Express . New South Wales, Australia . 2 . National Library of Australia . XXXI . 5709.
  25. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 22 December 1883 . Miss Naggs's Little Affaire de Coeur . 12 May 2024 . Evening News . New South Wales, Australia . 6 . National Library of Australia . 5190.
  26. News: Leckett . Jeannie . 25 October 1884 . Jo's Ideal . 12 May 2024 . The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 824 . National Library of Australia . XXXVIII . 1268.
  27. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 6 December 1884 . Brother Jack and the Other Jack . 12 May 2024 . The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 1136 . National Library of Australia . XXXVIII . 1274.
  28. News: Lockett . Jennie . 7 March 1885 . A Stony Creek Idyll . 12 May 2024 . The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 488 . National Library of Australia . XXXIX . 1287.
  29. News: Lockett . Jennie . 14 March 1885 . A Stony Creek Idyll . 12 May 2024 . The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser . New South Wales, Australia . 543 . National Library of Australia . XXXIX . 1288.
  30. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 13 November 1886 . The Millwood Mystery . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 32 . National Library of Australia . XXXIV . 879.
  31. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 5 March 1887 . Chapter XVIII.—Two Years Afterward . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 30 . National Library of Australia . XXXV . 895.
  32. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 26 September 1887 . Awfully Sudden Death . 12 May 2024 . Evening News . New South Wales, Australia . 7 . National Library of Australia . 6350.
  33. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 11 October 1887 . Awfully Sudden Death . 12 May 2024 . Evening News . New South Wales, Australia . 7 . National Library of Australia . 6363.
  34. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 1 December 1888 . The Garston House Tragedy . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 14 . National Library of Australia . XXXVIII . 986.
  35. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 25 May 1889 . The Garston House Tragedy . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 32 . National Library of Australia . XXXIX . 1011.
  36. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 12 July 1890 . The Case of Dr. Hilston . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 31 . National Library of Australia . XLI . 1069.
  37. News: Lockett . Jeannie . 11 October 1890 . Chapter XVIII . 12 May 2024 . Australian Town and Country Journal . New South Wales, Australia . 27 . National Library of Australia . XLI . 1082.
  38. Web site: Judith Grant : A Novel . 2024-07-14 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
  39. Web site: The Millwood Mystery . 2024-07-14 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.

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