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SPEAKER_00: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. This month we're talking about folk heroes, women whose lives and stories have taken on mythic proportions. Today we're talking about an infamous recluse. Legend has it she was abandoned on her wedding day and she never recovered. Her story may have inspired one of literature's most famous scorned brides. Let's talk about Eliza Donathon. Our story takes place in an old house called Camperdown Lodge in Sydney. Inside, paint and plaster flaked off the walls. Outside, there were overgrown bushes and rusted shutters. Neighbors knew better than to come calling at the old mansion, even if the door was propped open a few inches. The old Miss Eliza Donathon couldn't come to the door. Nobody but her housekeepers and attendants had seen her in decades. When the neighbors talked, as all neighbors do, about the reclusive old woman at the end of Georgina Street, they tended to fill in the details for themselves. What we do know is Eliza Emily Donathon was the youngest daughter of a seafaring merchant. Eliza was born around 1826 in South Africa. Her early life was spent traveling the world with her family before they finally settled in Australia. The Donathorns moved into Camperdown Lodge and, by all accounts, it was a happy place. The house echoed with laughter, and Eliza's father was known all around Sydney for his hospitality. Eliza grew into a young woman. Her brothers joined the army and moved away. Her mother died young. Eventually, it was just Eliza and her father in the big, beautiful house, until he, too, died in 1852. Here's where the speculation begins. In some tales, Eliza was engaged to be married in 1856, when she was 30 years old. In others, it was a few years earlier, when her father was still alive. Either way, the day of the wedding came and everything was set. The house was abuzz with preparations. The wedding breakfast was set on a grand table with tarts and jams as far as the eye could see. Eliza was ready in her gown, waiting for her groom to show. She waited and waited. Guests grew hungry, but Eliza didn't let them touch the breakfast table. Maybe he had an accident, got lost, was running late, but he would come. Eliza insisted he would. Eventually, the guests grew tired of waiting, and one by one, they left. But Eliza wouldn't grow tired. She would wait and wait and wait. After that, Eliza became a recluse. The wedding breakfast went untouched. It molded and decayed and turned to dust. The giant house, where time stopped for Eliza, crumbled all around her. Eliza waited for 30 more years, still wearing her wedding gown until the day she died in 1886. The front door, which remained ajar for decades, in hopes that her lost love would return, was finally closed. At least, that's what the neighbors would say. The truth is that no one really knows why old Miss Dona Thorne hid from the world. She was an older woman, never married, and she was left in charge of her father's estate after his passing. It's true that Eliza was reclusive and that her neighbors didn't see much of her. We also have records that show her benevolence. She left most of her estate to her housekeeper, Sarah Ann Bailey. She also left a lot of money to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Sydney. The truth is, she was probably an eccentric older lady that the neighbors didn't know much about. So why the jilted bride tale? That's where Charles Dickens comes in. Eliza Dona Thorne's tale is a familiar one, especially if you've read any 19th-century classic novels. She's strikingly similar to another famous scorned bride, Miss Havisham, from Great Expectations. For many years, people have asked, did Eliza's story inspire Dickens to create the character? Great Expectations was published in 1861 and follows the life of an orphan boy named Pip. In his childhood, he meets Miss Havisham, an older woman who was left on her wedding day. Like Miss Dona Thorne, Miss Havisham is reclusive. She always wears her wedding dress, and she lives in a dilapidated house. Unlike Miss Dona Thorne, Miss Havisham is vengeful, making Pip fall in love with her adopted daughter just so she can reject him and hurt him, like Miss Havisham was hurt. Eliza Dona Thorne, according to reports from the time, didn't leave her house much, but she also didn't bother anyone. Eliza was kind to her housekeepers and her animals. She was an eccentric older lady who inspired curiosity in her neighbors. It's unlikely that Eliza inspired the character of Miss Havisham. The novel was published only about five years after Eliza's supposed wedding would have taken place. There's also no evidence that Charles Dickens knew anything about hyper-local Australian lore. If anything, it was the other way around. What likely happened is that the Dickens novel, which was very popular in its time, filled in the gaps for people who wondered about Eliza Dona Thorne, the reclusive camper-down lodge. An unmarried woman was a novelty at the time. An unmarried wealthy woman was even more intriguing. The story of the scorned bride-to-be probably felt more logical than any other explanation as to why she ended up alone. Plus, if there's one thing people love more than a ghost story, it's a ghosting story. All month, we're talking about folk heroes. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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