 However, in cases where women did take on land, they were often given little chance to succeed.Annie Smith, a returned nurse who began a dairy farm in Thorpdale, near Moe was repeatedly criticised by overseers from the Closer Settlement Board for having to hire labour to do some of the more difficult physical tasks.The Board disregarded the fact that the plot she had been assigned had no water, and that Smith often obtained local labour for free, swapping nursing advice for one-off jobs.