Over the past couple of years we have focused on collecting digitised primary sources related to Indian ayahs and Chinese amahs. We have found some amazing material ranging from postcards and paintings to dolls and diaries. We brought those rich archives together in our online exhibition Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Journeys that opened in SeptemberContinue reading “The Amahs of the SS Marama: Using shipping records to recover the experiences of Chinese amahs”
Author Archives: clairelowrie
“For Nannie”? The controversial case of a Sinhalese “amah” in white Australia
The historical relationship that connects Australia and South Asia is one that we are just beginning to understand.[1] Our project brings a new dimension to that story by exploring the experiences of South Asian women who journeyed across the Indian Ocean and came to Australia as nursemaids to children. One such woman was Sinhalese amah,Continue reading ““For Nannie”? The controversial case of a Sinhalese “amah” in white Australia”
Travelling Pictures and Blurry Visions: Photographs of Chinese Amahs
Our project seeks to trace not only how ayahs and amahs travelled across the world but also how images of these women circulated. Pictures of ayahs and amahs travelled as illustrations in books, photographs enclosed in letters, ethnographic postcards exchanged as curiosities, and as paintings purchased for display in homes and galleries. Today these imagesContinue reading “Travelling Pictures and Blurry Visions: Photographs of Chinese Amahs”
Chinese amahs in Britain and Australia
A range of historians and public history practitioners have brought to light the stories of travelling Indian ayahs in Britain. [1] Much less is known about the Chinese amahs that travelled with employer families to Britain. The stories of the Chinese amahs and Indian ayahs who travelled to Australia (even after the passing of theContinue reading “Chinese amahs in Britain and Australia”
Ayahs and Amahs 