John Mitchell
3 January, 2021, 10:44 pm
Government House at Nasova, Levuka, where
Gordon-Cumming was hosted by the Gordon’s
while in Fiji. Picture: Fiji Museum
In the second half of the 19th century, a few women – independent and adventure-driven, made a name for themselves in the world.
Among them was Scotland-born Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, a wandering female travel writer and artist who ‘broke the mould’ at a time when women rarely travelled solo and were expected to always be by their husband’s side.
As a writer, her first published work was an article titled ‘Camp Life in the Himalayas’, which appeared in 1869 in Good Words, a popular periodical at the time. After her first work, she wrote extensively for a wide range of journals.