The French are celebrating the fall of the Bastille today: a symbol of oppression smashed by the force of the people. It might be worth remembering on this day a few examples of women’s strength exerted in good causes. On 14…
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Before the Married Women’s Property Acts of the nineteenth century, the marriage law in England, Wales and Ireland removed a wife’s right to her own property, putting it under the control of her husband. Yet, the other side of this…
Coping with Miscarriage in the Nineteenth Century.
Miscarriage was a common event in the lives of women in the past as it is today. In an era where baptism was important for the salvation of babies, midwives and doctors were given instructions on how to respond to…
‘Bella the Welder’
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…
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:…
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)…
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,…