Plant physiologist Helen Kemp Archbold Porter, the first woman to head a department at the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
Gold-Adorned Skeleton Could Be First Windsor Queen
British archaeologists have unearthed the remains of what might be the first queen of Windsor in a 4,400-year-old female skeleton adorned with some of Britain’s earliest gold jewels. The find could predate Windsor’s royal connection by more than three millennia. Read more
Helena Gutteridge, 1911
Helena Gutteridge was a suffragist from Britain when she came to Vancouver around the time this photo was taken. In contrast to other early Vancouver feminists, Gutteridge was working class and concerned with the impoverishment of working women. One of her projects was the establishment of a toy making cooperative in which women could earn money making toys that were then sold in a store on Granville.
In her work life, Gutteridge was a tailor and deeply involved in the local union movement. In the 1930s, housing became her main issue and her efforts can be seen as spearheading the struggle for social housing that continues today. In 1937, she became the first woman to serve as a Vancouver city alderman.
Source: City of Vancouver Archives #371-2693
Photographs by Lady Clementina Hawarden (1822-1865).
Hawarden gained prominence in the photography world at a time when the art form was dominated by men, and her work allowed other female photographers to gain recognition of their skills. Her work was exhibited in the Photographic Society of London, and was twice awarded the Society’s silver medal. Most of her photographs include portraits of other women, especially her daughters. She took advantage of natural light through the frequent use of mirrors and windows, and some works included elaborate costumes.
Source
Dr Lesley Peterson and Lord Falkland, a descendant of Elizabeth Tanfield Cary
Elizabeth Tanfield Cary 1598 manuscript published (BBC)
The Mirror of the Worlde, the first works by poet and dramatist Elizabeth Tanfield Cary, was found in Burford Church, Oxfordshire, in the 1970s.
She grew up in the village and wrote the piece - a translation from French of the text of the early world atlas of Ortelius - when she was aged 12 or 13.
It is now being kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Dr Lesley Peterson, a Canadian scholar and associate professor at the University of North Alabama, in the US, has succeeded in getting it published.
Queen Victoria’s wedding dress and wedding shoes. She set the fashion for white bridal gowns, which has continued to this day.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged…”
First published on January 28, 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has sold over 20 million copies. Picture above are editions of Pride and Prejudice from the US, Israel, France, Vietnam, Estonia and Albania.
Jane Austen published her first novel on commission, meaning she paid the cost of publication upfront. For Pride and Prejudice, Jane sold the copyright for £110, £30 under what she eventually made for the first printing of Sense and Sensibility. This proved to be an unwise decision as printings of Pride and Prejudice earned the publisher hundreds of pounds during her lifetime.
“American millions and foreign nobility- the market where our girls buy- and get sold,” Puck magazine centerfold, 1884.
Because Season Three of Downton Abbey starts tonight on PBS.
Cora Crawley is an example of a “dollar princess,” a wealthy American woman who married into a cash poor, noble European family in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Particularly common in the UK, these marriages were controversial on both sides of the Atlantic. American commentators objected to so much wealth leaving the US while British observers disliked the influx of American women into the upper reaches of British society. Dollar princesses gave the United Kingdom not just an infusion of money but also the first woman to take a seat in the House of Commons (Nancy Astor) and one of Britain’s most famous Prime Ministers (Winston Churchill, son of American Jennie Jerome).
Sources for more information:
The History Chicks Podcast: Episode 9 Gilded Age Heiresses, Episode 10 Jennie Jerome, and (more tangentially) Episode 8 Mrs. Astor.
To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace which Julian Fellows has cited as an inspiration for Downton Abbey.
(Source: loc.gov)
Decorating the Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, 1947
18 December 1947, a Norwegian christmas tree arrived for the first time in London, to be placed in the middle of Trafalgar Square. It was Per Prag, head of the London branch of the Norwegian Tourism Association, who got the idea for this gift in 1947, as a symbol of the friendship between Norway and Great Britain. The tree was, and still is, the city of Oslo’s gift to the inhabitants of London every year.
The first tree was 15 meters tall, and handpicked in Maridalen in Oslo. It was shipped with the steamer ”Borgholm” to England, where ambassador Preben Prebensen handed it over to minister of employment Charles W. Key in a solemn seremony 22 December. The tree was decorated with 300 candles, a star at the top and silver strips. The department of fuel provided an exemption so that the tree could have electric lights, as it didn’t come under the category business, but charity. According to the newspaper articles thecrowd of close to a thousand people was in awe when the lights were lit.
Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness mystery series features Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the throne and nearly broke. Tired of life in an isolated Scottish estate, Georgie runs off to the family’s London townhouse where she struggles to find a way to support herself with no marketable skills. Along the way she meets historical figures such as Queen Mary of Teck and Coco Chanel.
Light and frothy, the Her Royal Spyness mysteries are a fun read with some 1930s flair.
The niece of Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England for nine days. A teenager at the time, her reign was engineered by members of the Privy Council to prevent Catholic Mary I from ruling England. Mary eventually prevailed and Jane was jailed in the Tower of London. Jane might have eventually been released from the Tower if not for Protestant rebellions that threatened Mary’s reign. Lady Jane Grey was executed on February 12 1554, seven months after her short time as queen.
Ann Rinaldi uses these historical facts to create a novel in which Jane speaks to the reader from beyond the grave: “I don’t know what they are going to tell you about me. But be careful what you believe.” The novel sticks tightly to the known history with limited embellishment. Knowing the course of Jane’s life doesn’t take away from the book, the first person narrative keeps the story compelling
This book is categorized for younger readers, HarperCollins website says it is for ages 8+ or 12+. Big Tudor fans who have read through all the recent adult novels about this period might find it a little too light, but I found it to be a quick and satisfying read about a little known woman from history.
In honor of International Women’s Day, a continuing series of women we love.
Ada Lovelace. Developing the field of computer science while wearing a corset. That’s what we call Steampunk.
