No gold‐diggers here: Women investors in colonial Australian mining

Abstract We draw upon an extensive database of investors in colonial Australian mining, during the 1850s–80s, to provide the first historical analysis of the nature of women's share investing in Australia. Women were a minority of investors by number and value of holdings and faced a series of obstacles, yet their presence grew throughout the period. Most women invested independently neither drawing on male relatives nor other women. Many opted for only a single investment in this high‐risk industry, but a small minority built significant portfolios. We reveal that women managed these risks differently from men, taking account of their attitudes towards company characteristics, investor location, portfolio diversification, and the cyclical trends in mining.