Following on from the recent Journeys into Genealogy podcast interview here are the details of the “A Few Forgotten Women” project.
The “A Few Forgotten Women” project is run by a group of friends who seek to preserve the memory of some women of the past whose stories might otherwise be lost. Without meaning to, family historians often focus on the men on their family tree. It is usually the men who carry on the surname, the men who join the armed forces and who are more likely to leave wills, to vote or to rent property, thereby leaving a trail in the documentary record. Merely by virtue of her gender, a female can become overlooked.
Some woman are further on the margins than others and this project focusses on those whose lives were touched by issues such as poverty, illegitimacy, criminality, disability, alcoholism, prostitution, abandonment or mental ill-health. Often, several of these conditions go hand in hand, impacting on the lives of the women whose stories we seek to tell. Other women were less marginalised but lack descendants who can preserve their memory; they too find a place amongst our biographies.
A Few Forgotten Women website https://afewforgottenwomen.wixsite.com/affw
To listen to the episode please go here and choose the relevant link (or you can use Apple, Spotify or your usual podcast provider
Suggested Resources for looking for forgotten women in your family
- The Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers at The National Archives HO20/13, accessed via www.ancestry.co.uk
- The British Newspaper Archive www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk which can also be accessed via Findmypast https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers
- Records of the National Lunatic Asylum at The National Archives. Case Books and Admissions Registers from 1683-1932 on FindmyPast www.findmypast.co.uk
- The Museum of the Mind https://museumofthemind.org.uk
- Criminal Registers in class HO27 at The National Archives, images available on Findmypast www.findmypast.co.uk and Ancestry www.ancestry.co.uk
- Habitual Criminals Register and Police Gazettes in class MEP06 at The National Archives, images available on Findmypast www.findmypast.co.uk and Ancestry www.ancestry.co.uk
- The Temple Lodge Home for Inebriate Women, Torquay, Devon https://inebriateancestors.co.uk
- West Midlands Prisoner Photo Book, held at the West Midlands Police Museum, images available on Ancestry www.ancestry.co.uk
- Lucy Williams Wayward Women blog https://waywardwomen.wordpress.com
- County Asylums www.countyasylums.co.uk
- Masonic Journals https://masonicperiodicals.org/
- Warwick Modern Records Centre https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/
- Old Bailey online https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
- Digital Panopticon https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/
- Historical Hospitals Admission Records [HHARP] https://hharp.org/
- Staffordshire Archives and Heritage: https://staffordshire.gov.uk/Heritage-and-archives. They house the Sutherland Papers and The Minto Collection. Details of the Sutherland Papers are on the National Library of Scotland https://manuscripts.nls.uk/repositories/2/resources/1549
- The Wedgwood Archive: https://www.worldofwedgwood.com
- The Staffordshire Name Index: https://staffsnameindexes.org.uk
- Online Parish Clerks, various counties, some better than others
- The online catalogues for County Archives
- Holt’s Black List of Habitual Drunkards available on Ancestry
- Illustrated Police News available via The British Newspaper Library
Listen to the podcast interview here: journeysintogenealogy.co.uk
