Florence Powe diary

A diary written by Florence Powe while working in the Bundaberg region of Queensland, Australia, She records her day-to-day life as a governess/teacher for the children of the Hon. Angus Gibson, sugar planter and politician, and the children of his three brothers, on Bingera Sugar Plantation. Florence Powe worked as a governess for four years prior to her marriage in 1900 when she moved with her husband, Herbert William Wills, to Brisbane where he worked as a dentist. The diary entries mainly concern her time on Bingera Plantation, becoming more sporadic after her marriage, and ceasing in 1905. Florence Edith Jemima Powe was born in Gladstone in 1871. Her father, John Score Powe, and mother, Jemima Dickson had arrived in Port Curtis, Gladstone, in 1855, and were pioneers of the area. Florence was the youngest of nine children. When her father died in 1884 Florence and her mother moved to Bundaberg where her brothers were already working. Florence became a music teacher before accepting the position of governess to the family of Angus Gibson on Bingera Sugar Plantation in 1896. On 7 September 1900 she married Herbert William Wills in Rockhampton. The couple lived at "Blandford House" in Gloucester Street, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane, and Herbert had a dental practice in Piccadilly Place, Queen Street, Brisbane. Their only child, Ellinor, was born in 1901. Florence successfully nursed her husband through Spanish Influenza in 1919 but caught the disease herself and died on 10 May 1919 at the age of 48.