All articles in Women in History
27th July, 2017 in Military, Women in History
Kate Luard and the Third Battle of Ypres
Kate Luard, a fully trained military nurse, was already a war veteran when she arrived in France in 1914, having served in the Second Boer War. She worked on the ambulance trains and a field ambulance for the first year, and in July 1917 was in charge of the most important A…
18th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
Was Mata Hari condemned because of her sexuality?
Mata Hari was a Dutch fantasist, an exotic dancer and a grand courtesan. She was shot on 15 October 1917 as a German spy but what was the basis of the case against her? She had once stated, ‘I loved men: a strongly built male brought me to a state of ecstasy.’ And that was the tr…
17th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Literary legends: Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters
18 July 2017 was a special day for literature aficionados across the globe, for it marked the 200th anniversary of the death of perhaps the most beloved writer of them all: Jane Austen. It was on this day in 1817, in a modest house in Winchester, that Jane drew her last breath ag…
5th July, 2017 in History, Women in History
Five things that may change your mind about Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria ruled from 20 June 1837 to 22 January 1901, making her the second longest reigning monarch in Britain. To many she is thought of as a dour, rigid monarch – perhaps because she is oftentimes seen dressed in black and with a downturned expression in her portraits. Ho…
15th June, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Was astronomer Caroline Herschel’s success down to extreme politeness?
Caroline Herschel was born in the mid-eighteenth-century, the youngest daughter in a poor, Germanic musical family. By rights, she should have grown old cooking, cleaning and mending in the home of one of her many siblings. But she didn’t. She became an astronomer, assisting…
15th June, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Doris Delevingne: The Mistress of Mayfair
Doris Delevingne was never going to be mediocre, despite her lowly origins and place, as a woman, in society. She was born Jessie Doris Delevingne in Beckenham in 1900, her mother was a housewife and her father owned a haberdashery shop which also dealt in fancy French goods. Lik…
12th June, 2017 in Aviation, Military, Women in History
‘Doing their bit’: The female fighter pilots of World War II
No, they told me again and again, there was nothing special about them. They were just ‘doing their bit’ for their country. Modest to a fault, these women faced danger, sudden death, serious injury or bereavement on an almost daily basis. Yet there was nothing, they insisted, rem…
9th June, 2017 in Local & Family History, Military, Women in History
The heroine of Operation Basalt
The record of people who lived under German Nazi occupation is a mixed one. Some resisted, some collaborated. This was true both on the continent and in the one part of Britain which fell under Hitler’s rule, the Channel Islands. On the tiny island of Sark, on the night of…
1st June, 2017 in Women in History
Five daring women from Irish history
Debbie Blake explores the lives of five of the most daring women in Irish history, women who were ahead of their time, paving the way for future generations to follow. 1. Dr. James Barry (1799? – 1865) To enter university and pursue a career as a medical doctor in the Britis…
31st May, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Women in History
Why do people still love Marilyn Monroe?
American actress and model Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, and yet people around the world are still fascinated with her life and work. Here biographer Michelle Morgan explains why Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926, continues to have such an enchanting appeal… Over the past…
18th May, 2017 in Aviation, Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Amelia Earhart and Neta Snook: Pioneering aviators
What made Amelia Earhart push the boundaries of aviation? Her peripatetic early childhood took her from place to place and opened her eyes to new experiences. Due to her father’s job working for railroad companies, Amelia moved from house to house and school to school, which she…
17th May, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
Eleanor of Aquitaine’s greatest gamble
The decree was read out and that, for Eleanor, was that. The prize of release from the marriage to Louis VII of France, which she had sought for so long, had been obtained at the cost of a year of her life, plus a pregnancy she had not wanted. But she was free, at a price. Her da…