Trisha Fielding

Trisha Fielding is a professional historian and writer whose published works include the books Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the Remarkable Lives of North Queensland’s Independent Midwives 1890-1940 (2019), Queen City of the North: a history of Townsville (2016) and the history blogs: North Queensland History and Women of the North. She holds a Master of History degree from the University of New England and a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction (majoring in History and Journalism) from the University of Southern Queensland.

Trisha has a special interest in women’s history, and she particularly enjoys researching and writing about the lives of women who have been ‘forgotten’ by history — those women who have disappeared from the collective historical memory of the communities in which they once worked and served. It was in 2012, while researching infant and maternal health in early 1900s Townsville, that Trisha stumbled across a small collection of documents that hinted at the existence of a forgotten group of midwives who had run their own lying-in hospitals in the city. It sparked an extensive study that took seven years to complete, and which culminated in the book Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the Remarkable Lives of North Queensland’s Independent Midwives 1890-1940. The book was described by one reviewer as: ‘an inspiring and at times moving testament to the lost lives and forgotten work of a remarkable body of women.’

In 2015, Trisha was awarded the John Oxley Library Award in recognition of her ongoing contribution to sharing the history of North Queensland. She has written more than 120 historical articles for the regional Queensland newspaper, the Townsville Bulletin, and has appeared regularly on ABC Local Radio in Townsville. Trisha has presented lectures and talks at State Library of Queensland, City Libraries Townsville, Museum of Tropical Queensland, James Cook University, and various community history events; and presented workshops on blogging and historical research and writing for Queensland Writers Centre, State Library of Queensland and James Cook University.

Find Trisha’s book Neither Mischievous nor Meddlesome: the remarkable lives of North Queensland’s independent midwives 1890-1940 on our Featured Books page

Read Trisha’s blogs North Queensland History  and Women of the North here