Born in the slums of Lambeth, London, Winifred Steger travelled with her father to northern Queensland to take up a land grant which proved to be a worthless, inhospitable block covered in prickly pear. Faced again with poverty, endless backbreaking work and isolation, Winifred's father spiralled into depression and alcoholism. From skivvy in a boarding house to a loveless marriage, Winifred battled insurmountable odds to maintain her dignity and sanity, finding solace when she created fictitious scenarios to ease her hardship.
At the age of 26, she was forced to abandon her four small children. She found work in a pub, where she met and fell in love with Ali, an Indian man. She bore him three children and the small family travelled to outback Australia where they ran a camel line.
Ali's family summoned him to India, where he died of cholera. Distraught, Winifred managed to travel to the East in an effort to find Ali's grave. Her travels took her on a pilgrimage to Mecca and India, and she was offered a job as governess to the king and queen of Afghanistan. Civil strife forced the royal family to flee, and Winifred returned once again to Australia, where she lived out the rest of her life in relative poverty, writing a column for a regional newspaper under the by-line, Winifred the Washerwoman.
