On 23 May 1949, Lady Clare Hartnell of The Wilderness, St Swithin’s Road, Sherborne, offered herself as candidate for Sherborne East in the Dorset County Council by-election and set out her manifesto: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen. I beg to offer myself as your Candidate in the forthcoming County Council By-Election… I have now lived for over … Read more
Women have always been inventive. Where would we be today without Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)[1] who wrote the first computer programme, or Marie Cure (1867-1939)[2] the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize who discovered radium and polonium and used her knowledge to improve x-ray machines, or Dorset-born business woman Eleanor Coade (1733-1821) [3] who developed … Read more
In 1918 the Representation of the People Act gave the vote to certain women over the age of 30 who met a property qualification. The study of the suffrage movement has tended to focus on the actions of militant suffragettes in the larger cities, but women’s fight for the right to vote was also carried … Read more
Princess Amrit Kaur was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1889, the daughter of Prince Harnam Singh, son of Sikh Maharajah of Kapurthala. In September 1902, Amrit’s father sent her to Sherborne School for Girls where she was a member of Headmistress Beatrice Mulliner’s house. Amrit remained at Sherborne Girls’ until July 1905, becoming Head Girl … Read more
Monica Mary Scott was born in Cardiff on 3 July 1917, daughter of John Lawlor Scott and Elizabeth (née Mills). In 1927, her family left Cardiff, moving to Warminster in Wiltshire and later to London, where Monica attended a number of schools including Trowbridge High School, Camden School for Girls, and a school in Chard, … Read more