Mary Rand – 1940 –

Mary Rand

‘Just an ordinary working mum who took part in the games as a hobby.’

Mary Rand, (née Bignal) MBE, was the first Female British Athlete to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

            Whilst still at school, the young Mary excelled at sports but was especially outstanding at High Jump, Long Jump and Hurdles.  In 1956, she was a guest of the Olympic squad at a training camp in Brighton, later setting a national British record of points in a pentathlon at the age of just 17.

            Mary’s first Olympic outing was Rome 1960, where she finished 4^th in the 80m hurdles.  She also finished 9^th in the Long Jump, despite setting a British record in the qualifying round.

            Then came the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where Mary Rand set an Olympic record in the Long Jump, (which would be broken exactly four years later) earning her a Gold Medal, the first ever won by a female British athlete.  She also took home a silver for the pentathlon, as well as a bronze as part of the 4x100 metres relay.  This also made her the only British female athlete to win three medals at one Olympic Games.

            Mary Rand also trained as an athlete during the sixties, when there was none of the big sponsorship deals that are given to athletes now.  As well as training to become the best in her field, she also had to hold down a job in a Guinness factory, in-between raising her family.  She usually worked an eight-hour shift before completing a two-hour round trip to her training ground. The fact that she did all of that, and still managed to win medals and break records, should be an inspiration to all hopeful athletes of the future.

            In 1964, Mary Rand was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  Then in 1965, she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the New Year’s Honours List.  She was finally inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Frances Hoggan MD 1843 – 1927

Frances Hoggan

Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (née Morgan) was the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine.  She was also one of the speakers at the first Universal Race Congress in London in 1911.

            Frances Hoggan was born in Brecon, Wales and studied in Paris and Dusseldorf before receiving her medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1870, after completing a six year course in just three.  In mid-victorian Britain, women were not permitted to become university trained doctors, but an undeterred Frances passed the entrance exam to Zurich, which was the only university in Europe at the time to accept female medical students.  This led to her becoming not just the first Welsh woman, but also the first British woman to become a fully qualified doctor.

            Frances returned to London, where she specialised in women’s and children’s diseases.  Later she set up a general medical practice with her husband, Dr George Hoggan, whom she married in 1874.  Theirs was the first husband-wife medical practice in the UK.

            An active campaigner and social reformer, Frances also toured the United States giving lectures on racial issues, as well as campaigning against the lynching of Negroes in the south of the United States.  During this time, she also wrote several articles about the situations faced by the Afro-American people.  The most significant article she wrote was entitled, ‘American Negro women during the first fifty years of freedom.’  When the first Universal Race Congress was held in London, 1911, Frances Hoggan was one of the key speakers.

            Frances Hoggan was a determined woman who went after what she wanted, despite the odds being stacked against her, and was not afraid to speak out for the rights of others.  She died in 1927 and her cremated remains are buried in Woking besides those of her husband.

Elsie Widdowson 1906 – 2000

Elsie Widdowson

‘If your results don’t make physiological sense, think and think again!  You may have made a mistake (in which case own up to it) or you may have made a discovery.  Above all, treasure your exceptions.  You will learn more from them than all the rest of your data.’

Elsie Widdowson was a pioneer of the scientific study of nutrition.  She was also part responsible to the addition of vitamins to food, as well as over-seeing the rationing of food in Britain during World War II.

            In 1928, she became one of the first women graduates of Imperial College, London, achieving a BSc in Chemistry.  She achieved her PhD in Chemistry in 1931 after writing her thesis on the carbohydrate content of apples.  Widdowson also obtained a doctorate from the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry at Middlesex Hospital, where she did further research into the metabolism of the kidneys.

            In 1933, she met Robert McCance in the kitchen of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where she was studying industrial cooking techniques as part of her diploma on dietetics.  They both realised that there were significant errors in the standard nutritional tables.  It was the start of a professional relationship that was to last sixty years.

            During the early 1940’s, their work on improving the nutritional value of our food began with the introduction of calcium into bread.  They would later introduce the addition of vitamins and minerals.  Widdowson and McCance would also be made responsible for the rationing of food during World War II, formulating it so that people received the best nutritional diet as was possible during the food shortages.

            Elsie Widdowson was also well known for testing out her nutritional experiments on herself, which were not always safe.  Elsie and Robert once injected themselves with Strontium Lactate (similar to calcium), to see how much of it would end up being excreted.  They both became ill with pains, fever and headaches due to the sample being contaminated with bacteria.

            Widdowson and McCance spent most of the working life in Cambridge, after being employed by the Medical Research Council in 1946.  That same year they visited Holland, Germany and Denmark to study the impact of the poor diet suffered by those in the Nazi-occupied territories.  Their consultation was also sought in the rehabilitation of the victims of the Nazi Concentration Camps, who were suffering from severe starvation.  Widdowson would later follow up this work in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, by studying malnourishment in Africa.  Her research showed a link between infant malnourishment and lifelong effects on growth and health.

            It was Widdowsons’ studies into the nutritional value and content of the infant diet, that led to the standards of breast milk substitutes in the UK being revised during the 1980’s, after her studies in the difference between natural and artificial human milk in terms of trace vitamins and minerals.

            Elsie Widdowson became the head of the Infant Nutrition Research Division at the Dunn Research Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1966.  Although she formally retired in 1972, she continued her research at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.  Widdowson was also president of several societies and foundations between 1977 and 1996.  She was also awarded a CBE for her work in 1979.

            Although she spent her life studying nutrition, she herself only ate a simple diet which consisted of butter and eggs.  Her long-life she attributed to her good genes, her mother lived to be 107.  Elsie Widdowson herself died in Addenbrooke’s Hospital following a stroke at the age of 94.

Elizabeth Fry 1780 – 1845

Elizabeth Fry

‘Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal.’

 Born in Norfolk in 1780 to a family of Quakers, Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney), was an English humanitarian and prison reformer.

            Elizabeth was just twelve years old when her mother sadly died, and she was required to care for her younger siblings.  By the age of eighteen, she had developed a keen interest in the poor and sick, even starting up her own Sunday school within the family home.

            At the age of twenty, Elizabeth Gurney married Joseph Fry with whom she had eleven children.  Many people would later accuse her of neglecting her domestic duties in order to pursue her other causes.

            A trip to Newgate Prison in London left her so horrified by the conditions that she was determined to encourage changes.  The women’s section was extremely over-crowded with the women being forced to sleep on straw, as well as cooking and washing inside their tiny cell.  Elizabeth encouraged members of the nobility to visit the prison to see the conditions for themselves.  She herself helped to provide food and clothing for them.  Her acts of kindness meant that Elizabeth soon gained the friendship and respect of the prisoners, who soon made steps to help themselves to improve the conditions they were forced to endure.  Elizabeth eventually managed to found a school to help educate the children that had been imprisoned with their parents.

            In 1817, Elizabeth Fry founded the Association for the Reformation of the Female Prisoners in Newgate.  This later led to the creation of the British ladies’ Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners.  She was one of the first people to recognise that prisons should be a place for reformation not just punishment.  Elizabeth also became the first woman to give evidence to the House of Commons in 1818, when she put forward her evidence of the conditions of British Prisons.  Robert Peel was a keen admirer of her work, even helping to pass the Goals Act 1823, which was unfortunately unsuccessful due to the lack of inspectors needed to ensure that the work was carried out.  She also made regular visits to the convict ships that left England for Botany Bay.

            During the winter of 1819/20, Elizabeth Fry helped to establish a ‘nightly shelter’ in London to help the homeless after seeing the body of a young boy, who had frozen to death on the streets.  Then in 1824, she instituted the Brighton District Visiting Society.  Volunteers for the society made visits to the poor to provide them with help and comfort in their homes.  The plan was later duplicated in other districts across Britain.

            In 1840, Elizabeth opened a training school for nurses, becoming an inspiration for Florence Nightingale, who later used some of her nurses during her work in the Crimean War.  Elizabeth was a big supporter for vaccinations and was herself trained in administering them.

            Elizabeth Fry was well known in society and had many admirers of her work, including Queen Victoria herself who made many contributions to her work.  She died from a stroke in 1845, and was buried in the Friends Burial Ground at Barking, London.

            After her death, a meeting of people headed by the Lord Mayor of London, decided that an asylum should be opened in order to commemorate her life’s work.  The Elizabeth Fry Refuge was opened in Hackney in 1849.  It was funded by subscriptions from various businesses and individuals, as well as the income generated by the inmates through laundry and needlework.  Later also becoming a hostel for girls on probation for more minor offences.  After several more moves and mergers with other establishments, the refuge finally settled in Reading in 1958 where it still remains.

            Since 2001, the image of Elizabeth Fry has appeared on the back of the £5 (UK) note as a tribute to her work as a prison reformer.

Charlotte Bronte – 1816 – 1855

Charlotte Bronte

‘I’m just going to write because I cannot help it.’

Charlotte Bronte was born in Yorkshire, England in 1816, the third of six children.  She is one of the most popular female authors from the 19^th century, with her most famous work, ‘Jane Eyre’, still a major feature within the English Literature Curriculum.

            Charlottes’ father was an Anglican Clergyman and when her mother died from cancer in 1821, she left the care of her children to her sister, Elizabeth Branwell.  In 1824, Charlotte, along with her sisters Maria, Elizabeth and Emily, attended the newly opened Clergy Daughters School in Lancashire.  Here they encountered a harsh regime, along with cold conditions and poor food.  They left the school in 1825, although the poor conditions they had endured led to Maria and Elizabeth dying from consumption shortly after.  Charlotte was deeply affected by the experience, which would later become the inspiration behind Lowood School, attended by Jane Eyre.

            By 1829, Charlotte had already begun to write, escaping into a literary world of fiction along with her two remaining sisters, Emily and Anne and their brother, Branwell.  She continued her education in 1831 when she enrolled at Roe Head in Mirfield, where she was to meet her lifelong friend, Ellen Nussey.  Her education was completed in 1832, although Charlotte was later to return to Roe Head in 1835, where she worked as a teacher until 1838.

            From 1839-41, Charlotte worked as Governess to a number of families in Yorkshire.  One particularly unruly child that she was in charge of would later become the basis for the character of John Reed.

            Charlotte and Emily travelled together to Brussels in 1842 to enrol in a boarding school, where they taught English and Music in return for their board and tuition.   Their stay was however cut short after the death of their aunt, which led to them returning to England the same year.  Charlotte returned to Brussels in 1843 to take up a teaching post, but soon found that she was unhappy and homesick.  She returned to England in 1944, the time spent in Brussels was later used as experiences for her literary work.

            In 1846, Charlotte, along with Emily and Anne, published a joint collection of poetry.  They used the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.  The choice to use aliases for their work came about because at that time, there was a lot of prejudice against female authors and the sisters felt that their work wasn’t exactly what many would consider to be ‘feminine’.  The book however failed to attract any interest, only managing to sell two copies.  Not to be disheartened, the sisters carried on with their own personal novels, still using their chosen aliases. 

            After her first novel, ‘The Professor’, was rejected, Charlotte Bronte published ‘Jane Eyre’ in 1847, under the name Currer Bell.  The gothic melodrama became an instant success, although once it was discovered that Currer Bell was indeed a woman, many considered it to be an ‘improper’ book.  Even so, ‘Jane Eyre’ still remains as popular today as it was when it was first published.

            In 1848, Charlotte began working on her second novel, ‘Shirley’, although work was soon halted by a series of tragic events.  Her only brother, Branwell, died from Chronic Bronchitis.  Emily became seriously ill soon after and died from Tuberculosis.  Anne was to succumb from the same disease in 1849.  Charlotte resumed writing her novel in order to escape from her grief, and ‘Shirley’ was published later that same year.  Her third novel, ‘Villette’, was published in 1853.

            Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854.  He had been her father’s curate and his middle name, Bell, was the reason behind the Bronte Sisters’ noms de plume.  Although Charlotte initially rejected his proposal, partly due to her fathers’ objections because of Nicholls’ poor financial status, she later accepted after some encouragement from Elizabeth Gaskell and her father finally gave them his blessing.  Their happiness was however cut short.  Charlotte fell pregnant early on and her health began to rapidly decline.  She died in 1855 from phthisis along with her unborn child. 

            Charlotte Bronte was interred in the family vault in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels at Haworth, where her father was Perpetual Curate.  Her first novel, the previously unsuccessful ‘The Professor’, was finally published posthumously in 1857.

Emmeline Pankhurst 1858 – 1928

Emmeline Pankhurst

‘We are not here because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.’

Emmeline Pankhurst was a political activist and leader of the Suffragettes.  She was born in Manchester where she worked as a Poor Law Guardian, finding the conditions she encountered in the workhouses to be shocking.

            In 1903, Emmeline founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), their motto was ‘Deeds, Not Words.’  It was their aim to promote equal rights for women.  They fought long and hard to gain women the right to vote, as well as equality in terms of divorce and inheritance.  The WSPU were a non-violent group making speeches, organising rallies and petitions, as well as publishing a newsletter entitled ‘Votes for Women.’  There was however, a more radical side of the group who opted for a more physical approach, smashing windows and assaulting police officers.

            Members of the WSPU were often arrested and imprisoned for acts of vandalism, including Emmeline Pankhurst herself, where it soon became part of their protest mission to go on hunger strike.  The effects of the constant force-feeding would affect her health later in life.

            Emmeline was joined in her quest by her daughters: Christabel, Adela and Sylvia, who followed in their mothers’ passion for women’s rights.  This was to change in 1913, when arson became part of the WSPU’s agenda.  Several prominent members left the group, including Adela and Sylvia.  The family rift that was created was never to be healed.

            When war broke out in 1914, Emmeline called a halt to all WSPU action.  She urged the women instead to help the war effort by maintaining the industries and helping out on the farms.  The suffragettes could not be pacifists at any price.  Emmeline encouraged the men to volunteer for the front lines.  She and Christabel were also leading figures in the White Feather Movement, handing out white feathers to any men who were able to fight but refused.

            One of her more controversial moments of the war came when she opened an adoption centre at Campden Hill, for ‘War Babies.’  She came under criticism for offering relief to parents of children born out of wedlock.  For Emmeline, it was the welfare of the children themselves that was her main concern, having had first-hand experience of their suffering during the time she had spent as a Poor Law Guardian.  The home was later turned over to Princess Alice due to a lack of funds.  Emmeline did however adopt four children of her own, despite not having a steady source of income and only regretting that she did not adopt more.

            In 1918, the hard work of the WSPU finally paid off when under the Representation of the People Act, all women over the age of thirty were given the right to vote.

            After the war ended, Emmeline travelled around England and North America, rallying support for the British Empire and warning people of the dangers of Bolshevism.  When a bill was passed allowing women to run for the House of Commons, Emmeline became very politically active in trying to get Christabel elected, but she was narrowly defeated.  The Women’s Party withered out soon afterwards.  During her later years, Emmeline became a member of the Conservative Party, a move that shocked and surprised many people.  Although it may have been a tactical, move in order for her to obtain her goal of equal votes for women.

            In 1928, the Representation of the People Act extended the voting age for women to twenty-one, making them equal with the men.  Unfortunately, Emmeline Pankhurst was unable to see the outcome of her life’s work, as she had died several weeks earlier in a nursing home in Hampstead.  She was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.  Two years later, a statue of her was unveiled in Victoria Tower Gardens.  

Gertrude Bell 1868 – 1926

Gertrude Bell

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE, was an English Writer, Traveller and Political Activist. 

            From 1899-1904, Gertrude Bell travelled extensively and conquered many mountains including La Meije and Mont Blanc.  One Alpine Peak in Bernese Oberland, Gertrudspitze, was even named after her.

            In the years 1907-13, Bell travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, during which time she met with T. E. Lawrence.  The two of them helped to establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is now Jordan and in Iraq.  During this time, Bell also took part in many archaeological digs in places like Damascus, Jerusalem and Beirut.  She also became the second foreign woman to visit Ha’il.  The first being Lady Anne Blunt.

            Gertrude Bell was also Honorary Secretary of the Woman’s Anti-Suffrage League.  Despite her own political achievements, she was very much opposed to women’s suffrage.  She felt that many women were not yet ready for making important political decisions.

            At the outbreak of World War I, Bell was denied a post in the Middle East, so she settled for volunteering for the Red Cross in France.  She was later recruited by British Intelligence to help get soldiers through the Middle Eastern Desert.  Gertrude Bell became the only woman to hold political power, working for the British Government in Cairo.   Throughout her time in the Middle East, she managed to form a close relationship with many members of its local tribes. 

            After the war, she helped to determine the boundaries of what is now modern day Iraq from the Ottoman Provinces.  She played the part of mediator between the Arab Government and British Officials. 

            Bell’s first love was archaeology, and she formed the Baghdad Archaeological Museum, later renamed Iraqi Museum, in order to preserve Iraqi history and culture.  The museum was opened shortly before her death and the right wing was named as a memorial to her memory.

            Gertrude Bell returned briefly to Britain in 1925, only to be faced with poor health and family financial problems.  She soon returned to Baghdad where she was struck down with pleurisy.  Gertrude died in 1926 from an overdose of sleeping pills, possibly accidental.  She is buried in the British cemetery in Baghdad.  Her funeral was attended by many people, including the King of Iraq, who watched the procession from his private balcony.