Bella Keyzer, born in 1922, was a jute weaver, a munitions worker, an assembly line worker, but most famously a welder. I came across an oral history interview with her recorded in 1985 as part of the Dundee Oral History…
Author: WHN
The Ladies of Llangollen
‘In early life they formed a romantic attachment, as deep as it proved to be lasting, and determined to enjoy their friendship in perfect seclusion.’ The ladies of Llangollen, or Lady Eleanor Charlotte Butler (1739-1829) and the Hon Sarah Ponsonby…
Women’s Social and Political Union in Ireland
In June 1914, the WSPU sent a letter, on headed notepaper with ‘Votes for Women’ emblazoned in purple at the top, to William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, demanding that he take interest in their cause. They enclosed the above photograph. Their letter read:…
What’s in a name? Or leaving your patrilineage behind.
As tends to happen when you get to a certain age and your friends set to marry themselves off, the question of naming suddenly becomes a topic of discussion. Should you choose to take your husband’s name? And, what are…
Maud Allen: The Salome Dancer
Maud Allen (1873-1956), born as Beulah Maude Durrant in Toronto, Canada, was an early twentieth century performer. She was a favourite of the music hall and popular theatres, where a population from diverse social backgrounds went to watch a variety…
Wetnursing
Last year, Salama Hayek made headlines when she breastfed another women’s child in Sierra Leone, having to defend her actions and even justify why she was not ‘stealing’ [!!] milk from her own daughter. Yet, wet-nursing (breastfeeding another woman’s child)…
Blogging Against Disablism
Yesterday was ‘Blogging against Disablism’ day, where bloggers everywhere are called to speak out against discrimination against those with disabilities. With that in mind, I began to think about what historians know about women with disabilities in the British past…
Madeleine Smith
9th Feb 1857 Emile, I have this night received your note. Oh, it is kind of you to write to me. Emile, no one can know the intense agony of mind I have suffered last night and to day. Emile,…
Before there was internet, part 2- chain mail.
Anyone who has had an email address for any length of time has probably received a chain-email- one of those emails sending you a poem or a melodramatic story, followed by a dire warning to forward it on to ten…