This is a story that appeared in my research for the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum to celebrate the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade back in 2007. The bare bones of the story are that Samuel Gist was an orphan from Bristol who was educated at one of the city’s charity schools … Continue reading
This seems to be the book that makes most people prick up their ears when I mention the title. Which is great, because it is an amazing story, full of humour and surprises. It also provides a lot of challenges to the notion that women were powerless. When trawling through old newspapers some years ago … Continue reading
This documentary featured the pioneering journalism and activism of Jane Jacobs who led the battle to stop the wholesale replacement of cities and their vibrant communities with freeways and tower blocksin New York City. Her main opponent was Robert Moses who became a local hero for promoting open spaces and building public parks, but after … Continue reading
This is an intriguing book by Wendy Moore, a journalist and author who I’d never heard of. The story fills in a lot of gaps in my historical knowledge, especially featuring the poet Thomas Day who I knew from his famous abolitionist poem The Dying Negro and his book on child centred education. He was … Continue reading
When Henry VIII closed the monasteries, local parishes had to enforce not just criminal, but also moral codes, which could get a bit messy, and often involved women. Here’s a list of incidents dealt with by the churchwardens of St James’ parish in Bristol in the 17th century: 1627 Item. for a warrant for her … Continue reading
This film follows 13 year old Aishoplan as she becomes the first female eagle hunter in Kazakh history. We see her with her family, helping with the family farm work, and staying in town where she and her siblings are at school through the week. She comes from a long line of eagle hunters, but … Continue reading
Sport is one of the last areas where men earn more than women, but I had no idea how big is the gap, despite their jobs being just as hard – more so if you take in the lack of sponsorship and prize money for us fragile creatures. This is from Friday’s i paper, by … Continue reading
This is some more from a German physician’s journal, Thomas Platter’s Travels in England 1599 Especially every quarter when the law courts sit in London and they throng from all parts of England for the terms … to litigate in numerous maters which have occurred in the interim, for everything is saved up till that … Continue reading
Yesterday’s i paper featured the headline “Hollywood’s most shameful act – the gender pay divide” It begins Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlet Johansson and Julia Roberts are among the most famous women on the planet – and their substantial pay packets reflect their superstar status. But figures published by the business magazine Forbes show that even Hollywood’s … Continue reading
The following seems to turn national stereotypes on their heads, with an Englishman dying in France after an incredible life of ruining the lives of thousands of young women. This was reported in Dublin’s Saunders’s Newsletter in 1781.: An account of John Phillipson, Esq; who lately died in the Bastille. [Taken from Adams’s Weekly Courant, printed … Continue reading
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