The official blog of the Peterborough Women's History Group

Claire Richardson reveals the ingenious activities of Napoleonic prisoners at Norman Cross, the first purpose-built POW camp in the world.

Claire Richardson reveals the ingenious activities of Napoleonic prisoners at Norman Cross, the first purpose-built POW camp in the world.

Come and join us on Saturday 7th March at Peterborough Museum to celebrate International Women’s Day! The museum this year’s venue for the annual International Women’s Day event, …

Join Sarah Wise for a talk on Victorian 'madness', misdiagnosis and John Clare - supporting the Clare Cottage thatch appeal.

Norman Cross prison in Cambridgeshire was home to up to 7,000 inmates during French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars

Dinah Scotney was very well-known in Peterborough during her lifetime and often labelled as ‘notorious’, but she wasn’t a celebrity, or a wealthy member of Peterborough’s elite, as you might assume…

We like to think that many of our current Christmas traditions have changed little since the Victorian period; Christmas pudding, Santa Claus, decorated trees and the giving of sweets all appear to…

Mary Gale DATE: Christmas 1891 AGE: 72 It’s Christmas in Peterborough. The lights are on, the streets are busy, the pubs are full. An eccentric old woman lives in a tiny lodging on Gray’s Yard, beh…

by Sophie Michell This is a story I told to the Werrington Local History Society in early 2023, but it’s a story that passed into local legend long before my time. I’m going to offer a couple of diffe...

In the first of this two-parter delving into the extraordinary life of Mary, Queen of Scots, we look at her earlier life and how she ended up living in a castle near Peterborough. Keep your eyes peele...