In Chancery: A Dan Foster Mystery An appeal for help from a childhood friend brings back memories of life as a pickpocket on the streets of London for Dan Foster as he tries to find an old lady’s kill...

The Women’s History Network 34th Annual Conference Celebrating the Centenary of the Women’s Library and 100 Years of Women’s History (1926-2026) 3-4 September 2026, LSE Library & Fr…

Inside the Knightsbridge murder case that scandalised 1932 London — and the trial that let Elvira Barney walk free

She was twenty, a parlourmaid from Newcastle, and prepared to go to prison

The History of Parliament Trust is pleased to be a partner in an upcoming workshop, Re-Thinking Westminster Hall: A Place of Meeting and Contest, c.1650-1800.

Not all of the women who joined the Women’s Social and Political Union became notorious militants. Many worked quietly behind the scenes, and though their stories are less spectacular than the more we...

Join us in person on National Writing Day for an inspiring author talk on digging into history and crafting historical fiction stories.

On National Writing Day, everyone is invited to grab pens, pencils or laptops and celebrate the power and pleasure of creative writing. Join us to celebrate the day from 11am-3pm on Wednesday 24 Ju…

This Viewpoint looks back at the quirks of fate that, over forty years ago, led its author to become a seller of women-centred books and then to a parallel career as an historian of the British wom...

Music was very important to the women’s suffrage movement. Both the militant suffragettes and the law abiding suffragists enjoyed a repertoire of suffrage songs. Suffrage meetings often started with a...

Alison Morton’s twelve-book Roma Nova series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the Roman Empire has survived into the twenty-first century.  However, there have been some revo...

In over 40 years spent hunting for and selling objects related to the women's suffrage campaign, this little box is the only example I have ever found of 'Votes for Women' Hooks and Eyes. It is a perfect 'suffrage object', hitching to a political slogan a utility that was particularly personal to women. For how else were figure-hugging jackets, skirts or, indeed, corsets to be held together without a generous number of hooks and eyes?

This blog post focuses on Anna Maria Garthwaite who was a silk designer in 18th century England. A silk designers’ purpose was to create designs that showed weavers what colours and decoration they…

This card was given to Kate Frye at the Women's Freedom League 'Green, White and Gold Fair', held in Caxton Hall, London, in April 1909. She then preserved it within the pages of her fabulous diary (now held by by Royal Holloway College Archives) . At this time Kate was a member of the constitutional London Society for Women's Suffrage but was happy to offer her varied services to other societies - such as the WFL.

Many years ago I was briefly the owner of a most remarkable suffrage object, a tangible record of a very real friendship. This 9- ct gold bracelet, conventionally pretty in its outer appearance, is within engraved with a revealing message. Inside, one arc of the circle reads: 'To dearest Annie with all my love & in recollection of our great day out'

22 March to 30 April 2026

Seizing the Day Company Presents Wearing The Trousers The true story of Vesta Tilley, one of the most successful cross-dressing music hall stars that you’ve probably never heard of… Written b…

As me and my companions were going to Westminster We spied a big policeman, though for him we did not care; For we were in the right, my girls, and had no thought of fear – Oh! we’ve tried in vain the...

Rather like today – arguably – the elite Regency drug of choice went up the nose. When the Georgian ruling classes craved tobacco, they reached for their snuffbox, very possibly from a pouch specia…

This piece by Pamela Clemit was first published in the Idler, No. 54 (May-June 2017), 83-9: Quite Contrary: Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) thought that a woman’s place was in t…

We are thrilled to welcome Dr Ellen Hope Durban on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 at 4pm UK time to talk about ‘Activism for Married Lesbian Mothers in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s’. Married …

A blog about pirates, 1066, King Arthur, history, mysteries, writing and general chit-chat interesting bits and pieces

January to February 2026

I’ve written before about my interest in the history of women office workers, and how women came to dominate secretarial and clerical jobs. (See ‘Being A Secretary’ .) As part of the research for the ...