International Women's Day 2016

In honour of International Women's Day 2016, I want to express how much I believe in not being afriad to let other women know how ace they are. The quote "empowered women, empower women" couldn't be more appropriate, and I believe in it 100%. Today and everyday. I am so proud how my whole family raised me without ever installing a shred of doubt about my potential, or what I can achieve if I set my mind to it. Gender was never spoken about as a boundary, simple as that. I know many are not that lucky, and the best I can do is ensure I carry their positivity and belief with me!

The term 'girl gang' might be the hottest buzzword on the block right now, but I do use it and am loving what it's standing for in 2016. Such girl gangs should be built on ensuring each member knows they deserve the world, whilst also believing you deserve just the same, simple as that! Pretty much the plainest idea of feminism, but with a less socially intimidating name (but that's another debate!). I can't understand why this still seems a far-out notion, maybe not to late 20-somethings like me, but to the younger teen generation where there still seems to be such animosity and competitiveness brewing. I know the teen years are the trickiest to navigate unscathed, and I am SO VERY GLAD I am not a 2016 teenager, too much pressure to be perfectly perfect in every Instagrammable-way. It is a deliciously liberating day when you start to realise you no longer tend to care what others may think of you!

I feel the other attitude that needs kicking to the curb is "I only hang out with guys to avoid all the drama" - first of all, if you really believe that to be true, I think you need to pick up a history book! And second and most importantly, you're really missing out! Maybe I'm just spoilt in my current social groups, granted I didn't build such strong relationships until I was at college, but once built, the foundations have stayed strong with very minimal drama! Funnily enough, having mutual respect  for each other does mean a lack of typical 'bitchy' remarks. 

If you have avoided the close female friendship circle this far, may I casually suggest you get out there and find yourself a bunch of positive vibe, loud-and-proud bunch of girls, they really are all around us! Regardless if you like going out, staying in, eating kale, eating hangover McDonalds breakfasts, wearing little, wearing lots, there will be a girl gang who totally get's it! Or if not, they'll sure as hell love that YOU love it! If you go away from reading this with the urge to put on a Spice Girls album, my work here is done. Over and out!

International Women's Day 2015 - Caroline Norton

A very Happy International Women's Day! I am dedicating my post today to an inspiring, powerful pioneer women's rights campaigner, Caroline Norton. 

It was whilst watching historian Amanda Vickery's brilliant "Suffragettes Forever" programme on BBC Two this week that I learnt about Caroline Norton for the first time, and I was so aghast of not having heard of her battle for equality before, I was determined to research and learn more.

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808-1877) was an English author and social reformer, who's campaign for child custody and conditions of divorce places her as a major Victorian campaigner for women's rights. 

She was born into a grand but impoverished family, left almost penniless after her fathers death in South Africa in 1817. So when the offer of marriage from George Norton, a barrister and M.P for Guildford was presented, Caroline accepted against her wishes but for the well-being of her family. 

Caroline was described as a "blindingly beautiful, with a quick silver mind and a great gift for comedy" where as her husband was "a dull, plodding second rate lawyer who liked to sure up his sense of importance with alcohol". It was an angry and violent marriage, She later recalled: "We had been married about two months, when, one evening, after we had all withdrawn to our apartments, we were discussing some opinion Mr. Norton had expressed; I said, that I thought I had never heard so silly or ridiculous a conclusion. This remark was punished by a sudden and violent kick; the blow reached my side; it caused great pain for several days, and being afraid to remain with him, I sat up the whole night in another apartment."

Caroline found solace in her writing. The publication of her verses 'The Sorrows of Rosalie' (1829) and 'The Undying One' (1830) resulted in her becoming the editor of 'La Belle Assemblee' and 'Court Magazine', both providing assuring financial independence. Caroline always said she saw herself as first, a poet.

Portrait engraving of Caroline Norton from the frontispiece of one of her books. 

Tucker Collection - New York Public Library Archives

During the early years of their marriage, Caroline used her wit, beauty and political connections to establish herself as a major society hostess. But her unorthodox behaviour and candid conversation raised eyebrows amongst the high society. Counted amongst her friends were Samuel Rogers, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Mary Shelley and William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire.

In spite of his jealous nature, Norton encouraged his wife to make the most of her social connections to advance his own career. They also had three children, Fletcher (1829), Brinsley (1831) and William (1833). In the 1830 Norton lost his seat in the House of Commons, he asked his wife to use her connections to obtain him a well paid government post. In 1831 Caroline met Lord Melbourne, the home secretary, and he arranged for George Norton to be appointed as a magistrate in the Metropolitan Police Courts. Lord Melbourne and Caroline became close friends, but as he had a reputation as a womaniser, rumours began to circulate about their relationship. George was aware of this but did not intervene as he hoped he would benefit professionally from the friendship. He continued to beat Caroline leading her to leave him on a few occasions, but always returning for the sake of the children. Under the terms of English law at the time, the children were his property, meaning he had the power to deny her access if she left the family home. 

When Melbourne became prime minister in 1835, Norton began to leak stories to the press about their relationship, and the rumours spread like wild fire throughout society. After visiting relatives, Caroline returned to the family home to discover her husband had given instruction she couldn't enter. Norton (who had serious financial issues) announced that he intended to sue Lord Melbourne. This humiliating court case announced, rather than just accusing adultery, he accused trespass, with having sex with someones wife being blatant trespassing on a mans property. Caroline's life was ruined, she lost her house and possessions but also lost access to her three sons.

George Norton (l), Lord Melbourne (r)

In 1836 Caroline picked up a pen to wage war upon the English legal system. She wrote pamphlets telling the truth of how mothers who are separated from their husbands are denied access to their children, with the aim for giving mothers rights when marriages fell apart. Having had a lawyer for a husband and politician as a close friend, Caroline knew all too well that legal rights need to be secured by act of parliament. She convinced an MP to introduce the bill of child custody in the house of commons, it failed, but she continued her campaign undaunted,  she wrote "I endured pain, exasperation, helplessness and despair under the evil law which allowed any man, for vengeance or for interest, take baby children from the mother"

Her protests were instrumental in the passing of the first piece of modern feminist legislation protecting the rights of women -  'The Custody of Infants Act" 1839 permitted mothers to petition for custody for their children up to the age of seven, and for access there after. There was no mention of Caroline Norton within the act itself, but in less than 400 words she had secured the legal rights of mothers forever. 

Despite all her efforts, Caroline never got her own children back. George Norton cruelly sent their sons to Scotland where he knew they would be beyond the power of the English courts. But this pioneer campaigner for women's rights was at least commemorated in Parliament, when in 1849 the artist Daniel Maclise was commissioned to paint a mural of The Spirit of Justice in the newly rebuilt house of lords, he asked Caroline to be the model. 

She still looks out over the chamber to this day.

In her later life, Caroline continued to run a political and literary salon which was frequented by literati and politicians. However, she never joined or supported the first English feminist group, known as the Ladies of Langham Place. Her health gradually deteriorated, she was particularly devastated by the early death from tuberculosis of her eldest son Fletcher in Paris in 1859. When in 1875 her husband George Norton died, Caroline was legally able to remarry. Two years later she married Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, a historical writer and politician, with whom she had been good friends for nearly 25 years. Unlike her first husband, Sir William offered her love, security and comfort. However, in early summer, she fell ill and died on 15 June 1877, at her London home. She was buried in the Stirling Maxwell vault at Lecropt church, near Keir. 

Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (née Sheridan, later Lady Stirling-Maxwell)

Unknown photographer, 1880s, Albumen print.

Caroline Norton changed the face of women's rights forever, just imagine how many British women's lives have been affected by her endless campaigning for equality in divorce and separation? It seems madness now that the mother wouldn't have even been considered in such times, but even more atrocious, it was little under two centuries ago. I think it's absolutely amazing a portrait of her still hangs in the House of Commons, it's just a shame it was so anonymous, but hopefully now with the coverage of her inspirational story it will be more widely appreciated. She looks strong, mighty, and independent. What a woman!

Who is your heroine for Women's Day this year? I'd love to know!

Thanks for reading,

Katie

International Women's Day 2013 - Celebrating the life of Mary Anning

I'm sorry to be so late in posting this, busy day! But I couldn't collapse into bed before celebrating International Women's Day 2013!

This year, I'm dedicating this post to the wonderful Mary Anning, 'the fossil woman', for her sheer grit, determination and legacy to the world of Science and Natural History.

Mary Anning (1799 - 1847) shaped the course of Paleontology when she was just 11, when she uncovered a complete Ichthyosaur skeleton in the the Blue Lias rocks of Charmouth Beach. She is thought to be the first person to discover complete Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaur skeletons, and her findings are still studied by scientists today (head to the Natural History Museum!). Fossil hunting became her lifelong passion, and she became a successful collecter and dealer in her field. Her work contributed to the scientific thinking developments of the time, involving prehistoric life and the history of the Earth itself.

It's accepted that Annings gender and social class prevented her from fully participating in the 19th century scientific community, which was naturally dominated by wealthy gentlemen. Being a working-class woman made her quite the alien of the scientific community as of course at the time, women didn't have the right to vote or attend university. She was well known in geological circles in Britain, Europe and America, often knowing far more about fossils and geology than her buyers, but being a woman she was not eligible to join The Geological Society of London, therefore did not always receive full credit for her scientific contributions. She wrote "The world has used me so unkindly, I fear it has made me suspicious of everyone", and the only scientific writing published in her lifetime was in The Magazine of Natural History in 1839 - an extract from a letter she had written to the editor questioning one of its claims.

Anna Pinney, a young woman who sometimes accompanied Anning while she collected, wrote: "She says the world has used her ill ... these men of learning have sucked her brains, and made a great deal of publishing works, of which she furnished the contents, while she derived none of the advantages."

Anning continued to support herself by selling fossils in Lyme Regis, but collecting them was certainly dangerous work. In 1823 an article in The Bristol Mirror said of her:

"This persevering female has for years gone daily in search of fossil remains of importance at every tide, for many miles under the hanging cliffs at Lyme, whose fallen masses are her immediate object, as they alone contain these valuable relics of a former world, which must be snatched at the moment of their fall, at the continual risk of being crushed by the half suspended fragments they leave behind, or be left to be destroyed by the returning tide: – to her exertions we owe nearly all the fine specimens of Ichthyosauri of the great collections"

Autograph letter concerning the discovery of plesiosaurus, from Mary Anning

In 1826 when she was 27, Anning purchased a home with a glass front window for her shop 'Anning's Fossil Depot'. The business was successful enough that it was in the local paper, which mentioned the skeletons on display. Many geologists and collecters visited the shop in Lyme, including geologist George William Featherstonhaugh who called her "a very clever funny creature". He purchased fossils from her for the newly opened New York Lyceum of Natural History in 1827.

The risks of the profession were proved in 1833 when she barely escaped a landslide which sadly killed her beloved dog Tray, pictured proudly in her portrait above. She wrote to a friend "Perhaps you will laugh when I say that the death of my old faithful dog has quite upset me, the cliff that fell upon and killed him in a moment before my eyes and close to my feet....it was but a moment between me and the same fate".

Her later years brought one more major find, a new type of plesiosaur which sold for £200, but sadly she was plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, dying of breast cancer when she was only 47. Her work had tailed off during the last few years of her life because of her illness, and as some townspeople misinterpreted the effects of the increasing doses of laudanum she was taking for the pain, gossip in Lyme was she had a drinking problem. 

After her death, Henry De la Beche, president of the Geological Society, wrote a eulogy that he read to a meeting of the society and published in its quarterly transactions. It was the first such eulogy given for a woman. These were honours normally only accorded to fellows of the society, which did not admit women until 1904. The eulogy began:

"I cannot close this notice of our losses by death without advertising to that of one, who though not placed among even the easier classes of society, but one who had to earn her daily bread by her labour, yet contributed by her talents and untiring researches in no small degree to our knowledge of the great Enalio-Saurians, and other forms of organic life entombed in the vicinity of Lyme Regis ..."

Her unusual life story attracted increasing interest, Charles Dickens wrote of her in 1865 that "The carpenter's daughter has won a name for herself, and has deserved to win it." In 2010, one hundred and sixty-three years after her death, The Royal Society included Anning in a list of the ten British women who have most influenced the history of science.

Mary was a true heroine. She never stopped striving to discover more about the earth and laid strong foundations that are still standing proudly today. I holiday every year in Charmouth and Lyme Regis, and always imagine Mary walking the coastline in that iconic bonnet and dress. Perhaps to some, it's a lonely image, but surely, it's a liberating one! She ignored what was socially acceptable and kept digging to discover the truth about the Earth, and inspired many women to delve into the scientific world. We must celebrate her amazing life's work and inspiring character, and find some comfort that at least now, she finally has the recognition she deserves. I can't wait to be walking that coastline again.

Thanks for reading!

Katie

International Women's Day 2012

As 2012 is her Jubilee year (bring on the bunting and G&T's!) my choice for International Women's Day is our very own Queen Elizabeth I I - a truly stoic, gracious and inspirational figure. For these six decades, the Queen has held the position as monarch, steering a careful path through a minefield of political, social and domestic crises. However, I feel her efforts for Britain before she was crowed are often forgotten or unknown, hence why I feel today is a suitable time to celebrate.

During WWII, in 1944, when she was only 18, Princess Elizabeth convinced her father to let her join the Auxiliary Territorial Service to help the war effort. Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor was trained as a truck driver and in heavy vehicle maintenance. She later attained the rank of Second Commander. She is, incidentally, the last surviving head of state to have served in uniform in World War II.

On VE day (the end of the war in Europe) celebratory crowds filled the streets of London. The two princesses mingled anonymously with that throng.

"We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognized... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."
 

One of her most prolific broadcasts was on her 21st Birthday in 1947, when in a clear high-pitched voice she said:

"I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great Imperial family to which we all belong. But i shall not have the strength to carry out this resolution unless you join in with me, which i invite you to do. I know that your support will be unfailing given. God bless me to make good my vow and God bless all of you who are willing to share in it."

In 1952, she became Queen. Elizabeth began her reign as she was to continue it, with an enormous sense of duty. Throughout these 50 years she has travelled the world and met thousands of people. Each decade has presented her with new challenges, as society and the perception of the monarchy have changed immensly. Despite this, she enters her sixth decade as monarch still commanding respect and admiration the world over.

I could have spent all day writing about the many women who have shaped and inspired my life, and in fact, I intend to compile related posts throughout the year to celebrate such heroines!
I hope today has inspired many with such stories as these.


Wishing you a great weekend!

Katie