Women mean business: Rethinking colonial entrepreneurs

The traditional image of women in colonial New Zealand is all buttons and crinoline, but such images may belie the reality. A new book written by Dr Catherine Bishop has taken a close look at the role colonial women played in business, finding many were actively running their own enterprises while supporting themselves and their families. In Women Mean Business, she discovered that there was no "typical" businesswoman: some were single, married, widowed, Pakeha or Maori. But their efforts have gone somewhat unnoticed and unappreciated in the historical narrative of New Zealand.