Susan Gavan Duffy

(Wikipedia)

 Susan Gavan Duffy was the eldest daughter of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, KCMG, PC, and his second wife, Susan Hughes. ( He was an Irish poet and journalist, editor of 'The Nation',  Young Irelander and tenant-rights activist.  After emigrating to Australia in 1856 he entered the politics of Victoria on a platform of land reform, and in 1871–1872 served as the colony's 8th Premier). Her sister was Louise Gavan Duffy (of Cumann na mBan and 1916.)

    Susan emigrated to Australia with her family in 1856 as a nine year old and returned to Europe about 1880 to live in Nice, France.  From  there she visited the Swiss Alps.  She was a writer who authored a number of books and journal articles, in one of which she recounts how she spent five weeks in a small village in the Swiss mountains.  There is no evidence that she climbed summits but she seems to have explored the area around Salvan, in Valais : 

        ' we have this season fixed our summer quarters in a Swiss village high up in the mountains, within a    day's journey of Mont Blanc..... This village, though at a considerable elevation, is shut in at all  sides by further heights, some of them eternally snow-crowned.....The main road which runs through  Salvan and is the direct route to Chamounix'....

Modern Salvan

Written in 1896, she gives an account of life in this mountain village in Switzerland and particularly the role of the women there.  That she enjoyed being in the mountains and  explored and walked in the region is clear :    

    "Often when I am on an exploring expedition up the mountain .... over a road so steep that I found it difficult to climb it, even with the aid of my alpenstock..."

Her boots seemed to be a cause of concern to the locals:

"Not being much of a mountaineer, I suppose the slow rate at which I get on suggests that I am tired, or ill, for sometimes a voice coming out of a bundle of hay asks if  'Madame se trouve fatiguée?' If I reply that I, who have no bundle, have no right to be tired, they say: "Ah ! but you were not born in the mountains; and besides, look at your boots." I do not know why my boots, which weigh so much less than theirs, should be an excuse for being tired; but they evidently believe I would get on better with thick-nailed brogues..."

She died in Nice on August 17th. 1933. She was noted for her gracious manner and exceptional charm, and her literary ability received high commendation from critics. Miss Gavan Duffy was the author of several books, the best known being "An Australian Abroad,'' and had the happy gift as a letter writer. Her letters were a joy to a large circle of friends and relatives. Her death was hastened by an accident some time ago. (The Daily News, Perth, W Australia)

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