A BOOK launch in Corowa on Tuesday outlined extraordinary efforts by a pioneer woman to create a silk industry in Australia.
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Sarah’s Search – A Silk Odyssey, written by husband and wife Ian Braybrook and Marilyn Bennet, tells of Sarah Florentia Bladen Neill, a wealthy widow in the 1860s.
Mr Braybrook said Sarah planted mulberry trees, set up a magnanerie for silk farming and travelled to Europe several times to learn more about its production.
“Her energy was enormous and she was involved in everything in Corowa,” he said.
With European silkworms dying of disease, Sarah saw opportunities for Australia.
“That didn’t happen because all the proposals she put to the people in power were more or less just laughed at,” Mr Braybrook said.
The authors first began their research in 1987 but returned to the project over the past three years.
“We’ve learned a lot about this woman and we’ve grown to absolutely admire and respect her,” Mr Braybrook said. “She deserves far more recognition in the annals of Australian history than she gets currently.”