In 1720, leading politician Robert Walpole confided in his colleague Earl Cowper that he “did everything” by the Duchess of Kendal and that she was “in effect as much Queen of England as ever any was.”[i] The Duchess was Melusine…
Category: Biography
‘But why this here and now only when I loved I knew’: Remembering Kathleen Raine (1908-2003)
‘If hate were love, if love were hate, It could not make our tale untold…’[1] Few poets have the honour of providing the title for an international bestseller. Even fewer watch the words they wrote grace subsequent film posters and…
Who was Joan Conquest? – Michelle Johansen
Miss Conquest is a fully qualified nursing sister, a Ju-jitsu practitioner and a crack revolver shot. She can ride, drive anything on wheels or legs, swim, fence, fly and climb.[1] Joan Conquest (1883-1941) was an adventurous character who possessed courage…
The ‘Splendid’ Mrs McCheyne and the East London Federation of Suffragettes – Jane McCrystal
In 2018 I carried out some research at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archive for the Women’s Hall Exhibition, an event staged to showcase the incredible work of the East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS). Set up by Sylvia…
Dora Metcalf: Twentieth Century Mathematician and Entrepreneur – Mary Monro
Dora Metcalf (née Greene) was a mathematician and entrepreneur. Her story is one of a courageous response to loss and dauntless resilience in the face of entrenched opposition to women in business. She was born in India, the eldest of…
The Modern Venus de Milo – Michelle Johansen
The Modern Venus Competition In February 1924, an unusual beauty contest took place in London to promote a new film called The Temple of Venus. The Modern Venus Competition set out to find the British woman whose figure best matched…
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,…
‘See her when she is free…’ Celebrating Joan Eardley for LGBT History Month – Kirsten MacQuarrie
Image: Joan Eardley, by Kirsten MacQuarrie. In 2021, Scotland celebrated the centenary of one of our boldest, bravest and most innovative artists: Joan Eardley (1921–1963). Whether literally risking life and limb to capture the fearsome storms that ravaged the remote…
Marisa Mori and the Futurists – Jennifer S. Griffiths
Fifty years have now passed since Linda Nochlin launched a feminist art history by asking, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?’ (1971).[1] Since then, several art historians have made cases for the greatness of certain women including Artemisia…