Elsie Roughsey Elsie Roughsey i(A686 works by) (a.k.a. Labumore Roughsey; Labamu Roughsey; Labumore Elsie Roughsey)
Also writes as: Labumore
Born: Established: 1923 Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria area, Far North Queensland, Queensland, ; Died: Ceased: 2000 Queensland,
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal Lardil ; Aboriginal
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Elsie Roughsey was born at Goonana on Mornington Island. She lived with her parents until the age of eight, when she was placed in the local mission school. She lived there until the second World War. When the missionaries were evacuated during the war, she returned to her family in the bush. In 1946 she married Dick Roughsey (q.v.), then a stockman but later an artist and author. She subsequently worked as a nursing aide, teacher's assistant and volountary community worker on Mornington Island. She also became well-known as a maker of cottonwood dolls. In 1980, she collaborated on the book The Sweetness of the Fig : Aboriginal Women in Transition with Virginia Huffer.

Some sources, including The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (1985), have incorrectly stated that Elsie Roughsey died in 1985. She died, however, in 2000.

Major source : David Horton (ed.) The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History, Society and Culture (1994).

Most Referenced Works

Known archival holdings

University of Queensland University of Queensland Library (QLD)
Last amended 30 Jul 2013 09:40:27
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X