All articles in Women in History
22nd June, 2018 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
Mathilde Carré: The Second World War’s ‘exceedingly dangerous woman’
In his book Double Agent Victoire, David Tremain uses official and previously unpublished MI5 documents to explore the betrayal of France’s Interallié network and the woman who served three masters during the Second World War, but ultimately served herself. A cat is mercurial: sh…
8th June, 2018 in History, Military, Women in History
The Battle of Tettenhall: Aethelflaed’s greatest victory
On the 8 June 793, Vikings raided the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, bringing about what is largely accepted as the beginning of the Scandinavian invasion of England. 117 years later Gloucester’s own warrior queen, Aethelflaed, fought back. The ruins of Lindisfarne Abbey 1,…
7th June, 2018 in History, Women in History
Katherine Howard: Vixen or victim?
Of the infamous Henry VIII’s six wives, Katherine Howard, his ‘rose without a thorn’, has been treated with the least amount of sympathy since her execution on 13 February 1542. 500 years on, should we re-evaluate how we remember Henry VIII’s fifth, doomed queen? Thought to have…
7th June, 2018 in Society & Culture, Women in History
The Ford sewing machinists equal pay strike of 1968
On 7 June 1968 women workers at Ford in Dagenham went on strike. This in itself seemed no big deal. The women were sewing machinists who made covers for car seats. The cause of their unrest was unequal pay. As part of a Ford rearrangement, their job was being reclassified as Cate…
3rd May, 2018 in History, Local & Family History, Women in History
Aethelflaed in nine places
Daughter of King Alfred the Great and sister of Edward the Elder, Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia was one of the most powerful and influential women in Anglo-Saxon England, yet she is one of the great forgotten figures in British history. Aethelflaed (also known by the Victorian…
3rd May, 2018 in History, Women in History
Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians timeline
Aethelflaed was the only Anglo-Saxon known to have commanded an army. For seven years, the forces of Mercia were led by Aethelflaed, the widow of Aethelred of Mercia and the daughter of Alfred (the Great) of Wessex. We take a look back at the events leading up to, and during, Aet…
24th April, 2018 in Society & Culture, Women in History
Princesses on the wards: Royal women and nursing
Royal ladies have always aided the sick. In 1148, Queen Matilda founded the Royal Hospital and Collegiate Church of St Katharine by the Tower and reserved the choice of master to all the queens of England who would follow her. Since then, royal women have patronised, endowed and…
16th April, 2018 in History, Women in History
A haverin’ history of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots. What can be said about Mary, Queen of Scots that hasn’t been said before? She was a wise and regal monarch whose stable government ensured a steady period of governance without scandal or revolt. Like the axe that cleaved her head from her shoulders, she div…
11th April, 2018 in History, Women in History
Joan, Lady of Wales
Three hundred years before Anne Boleyn was executed for allegedly committing adultery, the wife of Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, more commonly known as Llywelyn the Great, was forgiven for the same crime. Joan, Lady of Wales, also known by her Welsh name Siwan, was an illegi…
9th March, 2018 in Women in History
Mary Shelley’s monster: Women writers and the work that has overshadowed them
Over two hundred years since the publication of one of the world’s most famous novels, Mary Shelley and her monster are inseparable, but Frankenstein is not the only piece of work she produced during her fascinating life. In fact many of the UK’s most influential women writers ha…
8th March, 2018 in Aviation, Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
Stella Rutter: Spitfire draughtswoman and D-Day secret keeper
Stella Rutter was the only female draughtswoman working at the Vickers-Supermarine Aircraft Company during World War II. Her artistic and creative talents led to a very interesting career and some unique wartime experiences in what was a very male-dominated environment and line o…
7th March, 2018 in Women in History
Women represent: Artefacts that tell the story of suffrage
International Women’s Day had a special significance for women in Britain in 2018. A century earlier the Representation of the People Act gave some women in Britain the chance to vote in parliamentary election for the very first time. But the struggle for women’s rights has a lon…