DO you have a mother, grand mother or great grandmother with a unique or remarkable Ballarat story? If so the Ballarat Cemetery would love to hear from you.
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Ballarat Cemetery is collecting stories of the women of Ballarat, with a goal to tell 150 stories of remarkable women who have created the history of the city.
Stories so far researched include entrepreneurs Eleanor Lucas, Matilda Thompson and Mary Sutton, artist Helen Noonan, educators Mother Bonaventure and Mother Hilda, political activists and politicians such as Aileen Palmer, Mary Morrison, Jessie Scott and Karen Overington.
But while many of the stories are well known, there's some unusual one's that are just as fascinating like that of Martha Clendinning, known as the 'lady who walked to Ballarat', simply because she was tired of the bumpy travel on the cart.
Chair of the Ballarat Cemeteries Community Advisory Committee said Martha and her sister opened a store from their tents to supply the women in the Goldfields with homely comforts and went on to establish a response to what Martha viewed as the growing issue of destitution among women of the Goldfields.
"There are some wonderful stories coming through, of everyday women who have made a contribution to Ballarat in a big or small way," she said.
"They are truly the fabric of what Ballarat's foundations are built upon. Their stories have been recorded and entered into the Ballarat Cemeteries database to be recognised as part of the project."
If you would like to see one of your ancestors included in the database, go to ballaratcemeteries.com.au/celebrating-150-years/
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