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February 1959: Fings Ain't Wot They Used t'be, a musical...

Building and people item

February 1959

Fings Ain't Wot They Used t'be, a musical about gangsters, molls, and tarts, was created by formerly criminal writer Frank Norman , composer Lionel Bart , and the company at Joan Littlewood 's Theatre Royal, Stratford East .
“Fings Ain’t Wot They Used To Be”. The Guide to Musical Theatre.

1940: Mary Corsellis organized the London Women's...

Building and people item

1940

Mary Corsellis organized the London Women's Parliament as a venue for women to meet to discuss wages, work safety, hours, working conditions, and other issues.
Minns, Raynes. Bombers and Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45. Virago, 1980.
37

December 1855: Barbara Leigh Smith, later Bodichon, founded...

National or international item

December 1855

Barbara Leigh Smith , later Bodichon, founded the Married Women's Property Committee (sometimes called the Women's Committee) to draw up a petition for a married women's property bill.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press, 1985.
78-9
Shanley, Mary Lyndon. Feminism, Marriage, and the Law in Victorian England. Princeton University Press, 1989.
32-3
Chedzoy, Alan. A Scandalous Woman: The Story of Caroline Norton. Allison and Busby, 1995.
245-8

Lady Rachel Russell

The reputation of LRR 's letters sprang at first from her husband's political fame, but she was a letter-writer of high quality in her own right. Surviving letters probably represent only a fraction of those...
Lady Rachel Russell Stipple half-length engraving of a young Lady Rachel Russell by Henry Meyer after Samuel Cooper, published 1853. She is wearing a loose-fitting gown with wide sleeves, low round neckline, jewel at the bust and jewelled armband, and a mantle pinned behind. Her hair is swept back to a bun, except for a long curl hanging down her back.

1463: Import controls prohibited trade in finished...

National or international item

1463

Import controls prohibited trade in finished goods and luxury items, including playing cards, dice, woollen clothes, silk, embroidery, leather and metal goods.
Warren, Michael. “A Chronology of State Medicine, Public Health, Welfare and Related Services in Britain: 1066 - 1999”. Michael Warren’s Chronology, 6 Jan. 2003.

22 May 1455: The Wars of the Roses broke out between the...

National or international item

22 May 1455

The Wars of the Roses broke out between the houses of York and Lancaster, both claimants to the English throne.
Bozman, Ernest Franklin, editor. Everyman’s Encyclopaedia. 4th Edition, J. M. Dent, 1958, 12 vols.
10: 666-7
Griffiths, Ralph Alan. “The Later Middle Ages (1290-1485)”. Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, edited by Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 166-22.
203, 206

9 September 1803: The first number appeared of the Annual Review,...

Writer or writing item

9 September 1803

The first number appeared of the Annual Review, a Dissenting periodical run by Lucy Aikin 's brother Arthur Aikin , which had been planned in 1802.
White, Daniel E. “The Joineriana: Anna Barbauld, the Aikin Family Circle, and the Dissenting Public Sphere”. Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
32
, No. 4, 1999, pp. 511-33.
531n25
McCarthy, William. Anna Letitia Barbauld, Voice of the Enlightenment. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
411

December 1768: George III signed the papers for establishing...

Building and people item

December 1768

George III signed the papers for establishing the Royal Academy of Arts . Angelica Kauffman or Kauffmann was among the twenty-eight founding members who first met in January 1769 to hear an address by Sir Joshua Reynolds

1872: German psychologist Carl Otto Westphal gave...

Building and people item

1872

German psychologist Carl Otto Westphal gave the name agoraphobia to a mental disorder on which he published a treatise this year, the fear of open spaces.
Trotter, David. “Platz Angst”. London Review of Books, 24 July 2003, pp. 16-17.
16

11 September 2000: Mende Nazer (having survived being kidnapped...

Women writers item

11 September 2000

Mende Nazer (having survived being kidnapped in a raid on her Sudanese village birthplace when she was about twelve, and about eight years labour as a domestic slave) celebrated this day of her escape as...

1833-1843: In 653 murder trials, approximately 10% of...

Building and people item

1833-1843

In 653 murder trials, approximately 10% of defendents were found unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity or physial incapability.
Smith, Roger. “The Boundary Between Insanity and Criminal Responsibility in Nineteenth-Century England”. Madhouses, Mad-Doctors, and Madmen: The Social History of Psychiatry in the Victorian Era, edited by Andrew Scull, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981, pp. 363-84.
88

Frances Notley

FN wrote novels and short stories from the middle to the late nineteenth century, frequently combining sensational and supernatural elements. Many of her stories are set in her native Cornwall, and draw on the...

24 January 1824: The first issue of the radical Westminster...

Writer or writing item

24 January 1824

The first issue of the radical Westminster Review was published.
Houghton, Walter E., and Jean Harris Slingerland, editors. The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900. University of Toronto Press, 1966–1989, 5 vols.
3: 528
Houghton, Walter E., and Jean Harris Slingerland, editors. The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900. University of Toronto Press, 1966–1989, 5 vols.
3: 528-32
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.

Patricia Beer

PB was a poet who also published, during the later twentieth century, autobiography, two novels (also autobiographical in scope), literary criticism, reviews, and topographical writing. Her collected essays and one of her novels appeared posthumously.
Patricia Beer Black-and-white-photo of Patricia Beer sitting in a chair reading her poetry at a festival held at the Royal Court Theatre, London, July 1963.

2 January 1651: Charles Gerbier published a formal defence...

Writer or writing item

2 January 1651

Charles Gerbier published a formal defence of women: Elogium Heroinum: Or, The Praise of Worthy Women.
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

Winter 1981: Protesters against nuclear weapons rendered...

National or international item

Winter 1981

Protesters against nuclear weapons rendered permanent or semi-permanent the impromptu Women's Peace Camp outside the perimeter fence of the air force base at Greenham Common near Newbury.
Harford, Barbara, and Sarah Hopkins, editors. Greenham Common: Women at the Wire. Women’s Press, 1984.

1942: The Anglican Church relaxed its expectation...

Building and people item

1942

The Anglican Church relaxed its expectation that women should invariably wear hats in church.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

Helen Oyeyemi

HO is often considered with other writers known as third-generation Nigerian
Hron, Madelaine. “’Ora Na-Azu Nwa’: The Figure of the Child in Third-Generation Nigerian Novels”. Research in African Literatures, Vol.
39
, No. 2, 1 July 2008, pp. 27-48.
or more generally with Black British writers. She gained very early acclaim and has been prolific, mainly working in the novel genre (with some...
Helen Oyeyemi Colour photo portrait of Helen Oyeyemi in London, 2005. In this close-up image, she looks directly at the camera. Her hair is in small braids with pale green and blue threads woven through and she is wearing a striped scarf and a beige plaid blazer.

July 1772: A Gentleman's Magazine review extended a...

Building and people item

July 1772

A Gentleman's Magazine review extended a cautious welcome to an anonymous Plan for the Abolition of Slavery in the West Indies.
Basker, James G. “’The Next Insurrection’: Johnson, Race, and Rebellion”. The Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin, Vol.
11
, 2000, pp. 37-51.
43

By 4 March 1882: Jane Ellen Panton's novel Jane Caldecott:...

Women writers item

By 4 March 1882

Jane Ellen Panton 's novel Jane Caldecott: A Story of Cross Purposes was published with a dedication to her father .
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
2836 (1882): 279
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.

April 1933: The Townswoman began monthly publication...

National or international item

April 1933

The Townswoman began monthly publication from the National Union of Townswomen's Guilds at 2 Cromwell Place, London, with articles on domestic issues.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
52
Braithwaite, Brian, and Joan Barrell. The Business of Women’s Magazines. Associated Business Press, 1979.
156
Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory 1999. 37th ed., R. R. Bowker, 1998.
1827

1797: James Gillespie, Edinburgh bachelor and self-made...

Building and people item

1797

James Gillespie , Edinburgh bachelor and self-made snuff merchant, left money at his death to found a day school for poor boys, later for boys and girls.
Spark, Muriel. Curriculum Vitae: Autobiography. Constable, 1992.
50, 52

1922: A motor baby carriage or pram, with a platform...

Building and people item

1922

A motor baby carriage or pram, with a platform at the rear for a nursemaid to stand on, was offered for sale in England, but British law did not permit it on pavements.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
198

1956: Golda Meir was appointed Israel's Minister...

National or international item

1956

Golda Meir was appointed Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs. She served as Israel's delegate to the United Nations from 1956 to 1966.
Greenspan, Karen. The Timetables of Women’s History. Simon and Shuster, 1994.
359

1804: The Prince of Wales (later George IV) was...

National or international item

1804

The Prince of Wales (later George IV) was given full custody of his daughter Princess Charlotte ; George III (her grandfather) became her guardian.
Ayling, Stanley. George the Third. Collins, 1972.
433