This year, 2015, marks the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta and 750 years since the De Montfort Parliament which was the forerunner of the modern day House of Commons. It’s being marked by a programme of events in Parliament throughout the year, Parliament in the Making. 20 January was the De … More Women and Democracy Day
I was very excited last week to be interviewed by Jenni Murray about the early female MPs on Woman’s Hour! I was appearing with historian Dr Paula Bartley, who has published a new biography of Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson, Ellen Wilkinson: From Red Suffragist to Government Minister. Paula talked about Ellen, her background, her role … More Ellen Wilkinson and the Kitchen Committee
Last Friday I was on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today in Parliament’ programme, interviewed by Mark D’Arcy about early women staff in Parliament. You can catch it on iPlayer for a few days still – my bit starts around 17:00. I talk for about 5 minutes about how women came to be employed in new roles … More The Home Front in Parliament: early women staff
This weekend I saw ‘The Winslow Boy’, a play by Terence Rattigan at the Old Vic. It was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was one moment however, when I thought, ‘I really don’t think that’s likely!’ That was when Catherine (Kate) Winslow, the intelligent and principled daughter of the family, went to … More The Winslow Girl and the Ladies’ Gallery
I was in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, over the Easter weekend and visited the parish church. To my surprise, I discovered that there was a women’s history interest. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917), most famous for being the first woman doctor to qualify in Britain, was Mayor of Aldeburgh between 1908 and 1910. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson information panel … More Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Mayor of Aldeburgh
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, who was fatally wounded by the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 1913, and died in hospital a few days later. We’re interested in Emily in Parliament of course, because she hid in the crypt chapel on … More 2013: the year of Emily Wilding Davison
The Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art at the House of Commons is hosting a public lecture to mark a newly acquired portrait of Margot Asquith by Philip de Laszlo. The lecture is on ‘Margot Asquith and the role of the political hostess’ by Krista Cowman, Professor of History, University of Lincoln. I’m very … More Upcoming lecture for International Women’s Day
One always has to be careful answering the question ‘who was the first woman MP?’ as there are two answers. First there was Constance Markievicz, who was the first woman to be elected at the general election of 1918, but as a Sinn Fein MP who was in prison at the time, she never took … More Nancy Astor, first woman MP to take her seat
Edit July 2014: great news that the Church of England has finally backed women bishops. Maude Royden would be proud! Below is my blog article on early campaigns for women priests and bishops, originally published in November 2012. Following the decision of the General Synod this week not to allow female bishops in the Church … More Early 20th century campaigns for women priests
There was a great ‘Archive on 4’ programme on last night, the Lost World of the Suffragettes. Professor Sir Brian Harrison had the foresight to do oral history recordings in the 1970s with survivors of the women’s suffrage campaign, the tapes of which are now held at The Women’s Library. There were some very interesting reminiscences … More The Lost World of the Suffragettes
Parliament and Women in the early 20th century 