To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, we are finishing our series of posts about 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex with a tribute to the little known story of Avis Joan Hearn, an upholsterer and aircraftswoman during the Second World War. … Continued
In today’s 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog curator Alexandra Loske shines a light on a Sussex woman who wrote a fine book on the beautiful city of Florence in the early 20th century, and the works of art she … Continued
Today’s 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog celebrates artist Alison Lapper, MBE. Alison started painting at age 3 and this creative outlet perhaps allowed her to escape into a world of imagination away from the turbulent life spent in a … Continued
A woman who became a Hove resident later in life was music hall star and celebrity, Vesta Tilley. She had visited Brighton and other places in Sussex many times in her career, performing in particular at Brighton’s Hippodrome and the Theatre Royal, regaling … Continued
Today’s 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog celebrates Sophie Cook. Sophie’s website introduces her as ‘a former Labour Party Parliamentary candidate, RAF veteran, Premier League Football photographer, self harm and suicide survivor…and transgender.’ This is the tip of the iceberg. … Continued
Dubbed ‘the Fastest Girl on Earth’, Dorothy Levitt was an early motorist who competed in speed trials and long distance races, setting the Ladies World Speed record right here on Madeira Drive in the Brighton Speed Trials of 1905, by … Continued
If you’d visited the Hippodrome in 1933 you may well have caught two Brighton-born twins, who’d taken America by storm. Violet and Daisy Hilton were conjoined twins who, after many years of exploitation at the hands of their adoptive mother … Continued
Fanny Burney is considered one of Britain’s first female novelists, writing sharp satirical stories which poked fun at the foibles of fashionable society a few decades before Jane Austen. She was a frequent visitor to Brighton, often staying here as … Continued
She was one of George IV’s favourite writers, and Brighton famously features in one of her most popular novels, Pride & Prejudice, and in her unfinished last work, Sanditon, but can we claim Jane Austen as a Sussex woman? And … Continued
Earlier this week our 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog series celebrated Battle-born Sister Mary Joy Langdon, who became the first female fire fighter in the East Sussex Fire Brigade. Today’s post is about another woman who has notched up … Continued
Brighton & Hove’s oldest monument is to be found on Whitehawk Hill. The earthwork began to reveal some of its secrets through excavations in the late 1920s and ‘30s including the remains of some of the city’s earliest occupants. Today … Continued
Katharina Alexandra Dorothea von Lieven (1785-1857), nee Benckendorff, later Princess Lieven, was one of the most illustrious, influential and charismatic women in early 19th century Europe and Russia, and a witty commentator on Georgian life. Born into Livonian (modern-day Latvian) … Continued
The town of Battle in East Sussex has already been linked with two women in this series of pioneering Sussex women, social reformer and feminist, Barbara Bodichon, and innovative cook and cookery book writer, Eliza Acton. As a town of … Continued
Today’s Pioneering Women of Sussex blog celebrates the inspiration librarian, Marian Frost, and is written by guest blogger Katie Gledhill, Principal Librarian at West Sussex Library Service. As part of the BBC Novels That Shaped the World campaign, the BBC … Continued
Our Pioneering Women of Sussex blog has featured some incredible sports women over the last few months. Today’s blog celebrates World Bicycle Day and explores the story of Tessie Reynolds, who was only 16 when she made cycling history. Written … Continued
‘Courage calls to courage everywhere, and its voice cannot be denied.’ – Millicent Fawcett The statue of Millicent Garrett Fawcett was unveiled in 2018, the centenary year of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. It is the first to … Continued
The exhibition 100 First Women Portraits by Anita Corbin celebrates Elspeth Beard, the first British woman to ride a motorcycle around the world in 1982-84. At the time it was very rare for women to ride motorcycles long distances. The … Continued
Since 15 February we have published 80 stories of pioneering women with a connection to Sussex, both past and present. Today, we are celebrating the work of acclaimed author and journalist Patrice Lawrence, written by guest blogger, Amy Zamarripa Solis. … Continued
Rainbows have become a familiar sight in people’s windows up and down the country carrying messages of hope and support for the NHS, keyworkers and our communities during the Covid-19 lockdown. Today’s 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog focusses on … Continued
Many men have described Brighton in the Georgian age, but what about the female voices? A small volume of poetry by the elusive Mary Lloyd evokes Brighton in the time of Jane Austen. While in lock-down during the Corona crisis … Continued
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