Having lived in York for over a decade, Claire Shaw been seeking out the women of York. The odd plaque on the wall of a significant building gives a tantalising clue from time to time, but now through variety of research to uncover more about the life of the aristocrat Anne Fairfax and the letters of Elizabeth Montagu, Claire has been able to piece together an overview of the lives of approximately twenty women.
Each life is examined on its own or in combination with other women with a profession or experience in common, in order to answer some fundamental questions. Why are the lives of the women of York so obscure and undocumented? What can we learn about York from the lives of the women that we can find some evidence for? And finally: do we need to re-evaluate any of the lives of the women who have emerged from the mists of time?
Some of these women were extremely talented and deserve to be more well-known than they actually are. As well as those listed above, the book looks at Cartimandua, queen of Brigantia, which encompasses modern-day York, the lives of Roman women through investigation of their burials, Queen Ethelburga and Elizabeth of York, the Naughty Nuns of the Priory of St Clements, Catholic martyr Margaret Clitherow, persecuted witch Jennet Preston, rebel entrepreneurs Mary Tuke and Mary Ann Craven, secret lovers Anne Lister, Marianna Belcombe and Ann Walker, plus York's female artists, benefactors, and the last woman to be hanged in York.
There is a growing interest in 'Women's History' as a discrete subject, which means this book is sure to appeal. We are living in a time of re-evaluation - re-evaluation of our relationship with the natural world due to coronavirus; re-evaluation of gender and sexuality; and re-evaluation of the role of women in society. This book is long-overdue.
