Despite being twice included on lists of influential Black Britons, Olive Morris is still frequently overlooked in British history. Still, she achieved much in her tragically short life and her legacy remains alive today.
british women
Charlotte, the People’s Princess
A nickname created for Diana, the ‘People’s Princess’ could easily have belonged to another ill-fated royal woman who lived and died over a century beforehand. Beautiful and vivacious, well-loved by the British public, Princess Charlotte Augusta was the breath of fresh air a stagnating monarchy needed.
Empress Matilda, Lady of the English
In 1141, Matilda, daughter of Henry I, sat down to a victory banquet in Westminster, certain of her imminent coronation as Queen Matilda of England. Yet it was a coronation that would never come to pass - so how was England's potential first queen regnant foiled?
Women of the Black Country
The stories of nine Black Country Women, specially researched for Black Country Day 2023.
LGBTQ+ Couples: Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West
"I am reduced to a thing that wants Virginia..." The love affair of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West was colourful and lively, and the impact the two women had on each other and their work can scarcely be measured.
LGBTQ+ Couples: Anne Lister and Ann Walker
Gay marriage has only been legal across the UK for just over two years, after legislation took effect in Northern Ireland on 13th January 2020. However, the first lesbian ‘wedding’ actually took place a little short of two centuries before, when Anne Lister and Ann Walker wedded at Holy Trinity Church in York in 1834.
W is for… Witches
The Pendle Witch Trials, in which twelve people were accused of witchcraft and ten sentenced, are some of the most infamous in English history, accounting for 2% of all witch executions carried out across three centuries. Read on to find out about the series of events that led to these deaths.
S is for… Six!
We all know the rhyme and, thanks to Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, many more are starting to learn who the women behind ‘Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ were. But how much of Six is actually historically accurate? Short answer: A fair amount. Long answer? Read on.
R is for… ‘Red’ Emma Sproson
Studies of the suffrage movement in the UK—at least in school settings—are overwhelmingly focused on the middle- to upper-class, London-based women who were members of the WSPU or the NUWSS. But this erases many working-class people who were just as influential, including Black Country activist, Emma Sproson.
N is for… Noor Inayat Khan
Noor Inayat Khan was an unlikely spy. A Muslim pacifist who had a great dislike of lying and deception and once fell apart during a mock interrogation, she nevertheless proved herself to be intelligent, resolute, and utterly invaluable to the British cause.