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.
nineteenth century women
Ragnhild Kåta
Ragnhild Tollefsdatter Kåta was born on 23rd May 1873 with five fully-functioning senses. Aged just three-and-a-half, she lost four of these, yet she would grow into a talented woman who was an international inspiration.
Pirates: Six Biographies
Six short biographies of ruthless female pirates across history.
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.
Y is for… Yaa Asantewaa
Now an anti-colonial heroine and a role model for women and girls throughout Africa, Yaa Asantewaa was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her land and culture. As Queen Mother, she held a great deal of power in the relatively egalitarian Asante nation—power which she used to incite a war against one of the largest colonial forces in the world. It was not a war Asantewaa would necessarily win in body, but her actions and what they symbolised produced a type of victory out of defeat.
U is for… Undercover
The 1880s and 1890s were the heyday for undercover, stunt journalism. In a field where women had always been pushed to the margins, many female journalists found their niche in the stunt genre, going undercover in often dangerous situations, and later publishing scandalous exposés.
E is for… Eleanor Marx
Karl Marx is known throughout the world for his political theory, but it was his youngest daughter, Eleanor, who put that theory into practice. Fiercely intelligent and quick-witted, she was heavily involved with socialist movements and early trade unionism, and she was a strong campaigner for the rights of working-class women and Jews.
Mary Seacole – Mother of the Crimea
In 2007, Mary Seacole was introduced to the UK National Curriculum. Before this, her life went largely unrecognised, and only now is interest in her beginning to resurface.
Nellie Bly – Around the World in Seventy-Two Days
When Jules Verne penned 'Around the World in Eighty Days', no-one could have imagined that it would be a woman who broke Fogg's fictitious record. Nellie Bly, never one to shirk at a challenge, took on the task in 1889, emerging victorious 72 days later.