On the first day of January 1753 maidservant Elizabeth Canning disappeared. She returned to her mother’s house some twenty-eight days later, emaciated and bedraggled, claiming that she had been held in a room against her will. As the case went to court, and her captors were arrested, many came to disbelieve Elizabeth Canning’s tale, resulting in Canning herself going on trial for perjury. In 1754 the Manchester Mercury comments on the question of whether ‘Elizabeth Canning is or is not …
women’s history
‘If you want something to write, write about Rose Heilbron. She’s the greatest lawyer in history.’ These were the words of Jack Comer as he left the Old Bailey in September 1955, having been defended by 39-year-old Rose Heilbron QC, and subsequently acquitted. Who was Rose Heilbron? Born in August 1914, she was the first woman to win a scholarship at Grey’s Inn, one of the first two women to be appointed to the King’s Bench, the first woman to …
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Alice Maud Mary Arncliffe-Sennett was an energetic militant suffragette, determined to fight for women’s suffrage even if that meant getting arrested and going against prominent leaders such as Emmeline Pankhurst and Milicent Fawcett. Through the newspapers, we can find details about Arncliffe-Sennett’s life, career, and activism. Alice, or Maud as she was often called, lived in London and worked as an actress. Her stage name was Mary Kingsley. Here is a review by The Era of her performance as Lady MacBeth in ‘that …
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This year, in recognition of the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, we will showcase the lives and activities of women involved in the Suffrage movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Despite making headlines for their activities many of these women are now forgotten. In this blog post we will revive the memory of Irish Suffragette, Anna Garvey Kelly, whose support of the cause of Suffrage saw her spend a month in Holloway prison …
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This year, 2018, is the 100 year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918. The Act which gave propertied women over the age of thirty, and all men over the age of twenty-one, the right to vote. Over the course of 2018 we aim to digitise several suffragette and women’s newspapers. These papers will allow us to explore the suffrage movement, and the social sphere of the women who campaigned for the right to vote. We are delighted …
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To wrap up our month of military posts, we have one last blog about the contribution of women during the Second World War (1939-1945). Last week, we explored Women and the First World War. In 1939, for a second time, Britain found itself embroiled in an international conflict, and women stepped forward to work in civil defence, armed forces, and industry. Unlike any other country, for the first time, British women were conscripted into service. On 18 December 1941, the …
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During the First World War (1914-1918), the role of women in Britain was massively altered and the women’s sphere was enlarged in every direction. Some historians mark the First World War as a watershed moment in women’s history when women were looked at less as fragile creatures and more as robust figures. A single blog post is not enough to explore all the contributions of women during the Great War, but we have combed through The British Newspaper Archive and …
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Today, we’re looking at two events that occurred on 18 May: the Khodynka Tragedy in 1896 and Jacqueline Cochran’s breaking of the sound barrier in 1953. Khodynka Tragedy The first took place in 1896 in the Khodynka Field, Moscow. The field was the site of festivities honouring the recent coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. Thousands gathered to celebrate and to, hopefully, receive rumoured gifts of food and a commemorative cup. With growing and increasingly frenzied crowds, the police force on …
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Isabella Lucy Bird, explorer, natural historian, writer and the first woman to be elected a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society in London, died in Edinburgh on 7 October 1904 – she was 71. Included below are two, contemporary newspaper tributes that report on her remarkable life and achievements.
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Annie Besant, a leading political activist and social justice campaigner in the 19th and 20th centuries, was born in Clapham, London, on 1 October 1847. To celebrate the day of her birth, here are four newspaper stories from that offer an insight into her character, political and social beliefs.