Towards the end of my teaching career I knew I had become part of History. Not surprisingly I had to halt videos of the Poll Tax Demonstrations to give an eyewitness account that varied from Andrew Marr’s narrative. However it…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
Helen Cox: A pioneering accountant – Lizzie Broadbent
Increasing socio-economic diversity in the professional services sectors is currently a hot topic. In November 2020, a City of London socio-economic diversity taskforce was launched and last year two of the Big Four accountancy firms published firm-wide socioeconomic pay gaps,…
Uncovering sexual assault and harassment in an early nineteenth-century letter – by Natalie Hanley-Smith
Harriet Ponsonby, Countess Bessborough (1761-1821), is perhaps best-known today for being the younger sister of the celebrated Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish (1757-1806). Although not as famous as her sister, Bessborough was a fascinating woman in her own right. As…
Sex and the City: Gender and the City of London – Emma Barrett
While discussing her career trajectory, an oral history participant disclosed her cancer diagnosis. Thrown, I said I was sorry. Her reply was shocking: ‘Don’t be, in many ways it was a good thing…it made me get off the hamster’s wheel’.…
“Bad” Breadwinners: The Necessity for a Lodger(s) in the Working-Class Homes of Victorian England – Vicky Holmes
Gathering a thousand plus newspaper reports of coroners’ inquests regarding lodgers and the households who took them in, I have been able to examine many aspects of this domestic arrangement. I have been able to ascertain a broad spectrum of…
Women accessing justice in early modern Scotland – Rebecca Mason
When Jonet Pollock brought suit before Glasgow’s commissary court in 1694, she listed a string of accusations and complaints against her ex-partner, William Jamieson. In her complaint, Jonet insisted that William had refused to pay an outstanding debt due to…
I created my town’s first Women’s History Museum – Taylor Waggoner
In October of 2021 I made the decision to start my town’s first Women’s History Museum. Why? Because there is more recognition of fish in Perth than there is of Women. Sadly, I don’t think that that fact will surprise…
We (were) here, we (were) queer, and we shouldn’t have to prove it – Anna Dearden
Twitter and Instagram are laden with sharp-tongued memes poking fun at historians for failing to acknowledge the existence of LGBT+ people in the past. The memes usually follow a similar format – a painting of two historic women intimately wrapped…
20th April 2022: Women’s History Month – In Conversation with Friends of the Factories (Community History Prizewinners 2021)
To kick off Women’s History Month, join us for the first of two special seminars! Yvonne Norris from Friends of the Factories speaks to WHN’s Helen Antrobus about their 2021 Community History Prize-winning campaign. Wednesday, 20th April 2022, 4pm GMT…