You are invited to an online talk I will be presenting on 15 September, on the subject of self-publishing history books. The event is for Vauxhall History and Friends of Tate South Lambeth and is part of 2021 Lambeth Heritage Festival – but is open to everyone wherever you are in the world. It will […]
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Property Rites: How ‘modern’ is the story of Mary Ashford?
As a warning to female virtue, and a humbleMonument to female chastity,This stone marks the grave ofMARY ASHFORD,Who, in the 20th year of her age,Having incautiously repaired to aScene of amusement, without proper protection,Was brutally violated and murderedOn the 27th of May 1817. Mary Ashford’s gravestone, Sutton Coldfield churchyard Early one May morning in 1817 […]
Online talk: Louise Michel in South London
In 1883 the feminist anarchist Louise Michel visited a south London workhouse. Why was the opinion of this ex-convict veteran of the Paris Commune on provision for the poor in London so valued? Find out at my free online talk on Wednesday 14 April at 7pm for Vauxhall History and Friends of South Lambeth Library. […]
Talk: “By her own consent” – The Murder of Mary Ashford and Rape Culture in the Georgian Era
This is a live online event. Bookers will be sent a link shortly before it starts. Watch a recording of “By her own consent” on YouTube. Please come to my online presentation on the murder of Mary Ashford in 1817 on 8 December 2020 at 7pm. I will be exploring the rape culture of the […]
5 Georgian era drinking scenes
To mark the re-opening of pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants on 4 July 2020 following England’s period of lockdown, I bring you five scenes of drinking, each of them featuring at least one woman. Just because I’m like that. So please come with me on my little bar crawl. I can promise you will emerge […]
“Is she or isn’t she?” How an age-old plea of pregnancy saved women from execution
I was all set to give a talk on 1 May at the National Theatre in London exploring themes in Lucy Kirkwood’s play The Welkin, which was then in performance. Of course, the Coronavirus lockdown meant everything was cancelled, so I am instead posting some of that talk here. *Although some aspects of the plot […]