There is a well researched paper by Patricia Summerling entitled. 'The darker side of Motherhood. Abortion and Infanticide in South Australia 1870 - 1910' that suggests women in that time were often victims of a very nasty system. Numerous articles at the time pointed out the often lax morals of many of the men at that time. It certainly doesn't support any rose coloured view of Adelaide in the past.
I will be carefully following through in my family history on the comments, criticisms and helpful suggestions that I have received, but this takes time to digest, rather than swiftly posting back responses.
My purpose has always been to simply determine if there is any firm evidence about the life of Ada Sullivan in the 16 or 17 years prior to her marriage. To have had the tremendous support of so many skilled researchers is wonderful and the fact that no one can find any evidence suggests it probably never can be found and unless something dramatically different surfaces, I think I should let this intriguing subject quietly recede into the background.
