Women's stories from London history

Skeleton of a women in her late teens, excavated from Cross Bones graveyard

Sharon Ament, Museum of London Director: I am drawn to one of the skeletons in our Human Osteology collection. These are the remains of a teenage girl who was buried in Cross Bones graveyard in Southwark. She lived in the first half of the 19th century and the evidence shows that her life was terribly hard. She was buried in a pauper's grave and she is nameless, like so many of the people whose bodies were interred in this cemetery.

The power of our collection is that we can determine much about her short life through the expert analysis of our osteological team. We know about her living conditions: she did not have enough to eat; she was short in height which is a sign of malnutrition; she had suffered from rickets, a condition also related to poverty that caused her legs to bend and bow. But most horrifically of all, this young girl was afflicted by syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. She would have suffered terribly, it is very likely that she would have had open sores on her face, legs and arms. Her bones show signs of malformation, a characteristic of the later stages of the illness.

She was one of the millions who lived in poverty in 19th century London. She was probably considered to be the lowest of the low. I imagine that in her own lifetime she could not have dreamed that one day she would be celebrated, as she was in 2016 at the renowned Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, when she lay beside a Roman and a Cluniac monk as part of our joint exhibition with the Wellcome Trust.

Poverty continues today, and research shows that women and girls across the globe are disproportionately affected. The evidence is written in our bones.

Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, 1857

Marina Spiteri, Memories of London Programme Coordinator: This is the autobiography of Mary Seacole, who worked as a nurse during the Crimean War. Her story is so interesting, but personally I just like the book. She writes it in a really surprising way because she isn't modest and doesn't hide her achievements. She shouts about them because she knows that adventure, shock and exaggeration sells, and at this point in her life she was flat broke. She portrays herself as a respectable middle class Victorian woman, even though now we often set her apart from other women of her time and particularly emphasise the colour of her skin. It's a little book with a huge story waiting to be read.

Hatpin, or woman's weapon? 1909

Danielle Thom, Curator of Making: These hatpins are such simple objects, but they have a hidden history. Long, pointed steel pins topped with a decorative bezel, they were worn by women in the late 19th and early 20th century, when elaborate broad-brimmed hats were in vogue. Their intended use was to anchor the hat to the equally elaborate, broad hairstyle worn underneath, but they soon developed another purpose. As women increasingly entered London’s public spaces – as workers, consumers, campaigners and students – they were subject to harassment and the threat of violence from predatory men.

The sharp hatpin, sometimes as much as a foot long, became a handy weapon, used by women from all walks of life for self-defence. There was even a popular music-hall ballad, Never Go Out Without Your Hatpin, which suggested the risks a woman ran by going out in public without this method of protection. Unsurprisingly, the lengthy hatpin attracted the ire of many men, if outraged letters written to The Times are anything to go by!

Photograph of a Suffragette father and son, 1910-13

Rose Briskman, Paper Conservator: My choice is a bit of an odd one, being a photograph of a father, Thomas Lamartine Yates with his small son, Paul, on his lap. They look to be a slightly uncomfortable duo. Tom Yates was married to Rose Lamartine, a suffragette. They both worked to gain women’s suffrage. They both also loved cycling - I like them already! In January 1909 Tom gave Rose a letter containing the sentence 'The present I give thee is not gold or silver but permission freely and gladly, to offer up thy liberty for the benefit of downtrodden women'.

Rose was imprisoned for one month for her part in a demonstration at the House of Commons later that same year. Her son was 8 months old at the time. The weekly magazine Punch published a verse entitled "A Mother’s Sacrifice” criticising her for choosing to abandon her son. I find the idea of being given permission to do something by your husband outmoded but still I love this sentiment written in a letter to his marital teammate. I am grateful to Rose and to Tom and to others like them, who braved public criticism, so that there is now much more choice in how parents share parenting.

Darning sampler by Hannah Grimes, 1798

Lucie Whitmore, Fashion & Textile Curator: This small and unassuming object is a sampler, embroidered and darned by Hannah Grimes when she was a student at Ackworth School in Yorkshire; a Quaker boarding school for children whose parents were not wealthy. The girls were taught sewing, knitting and darning, to prepare them for their future married lives or provide them with skills through which they could one day make a living.

It is unusual to know more than the most basic facts about the women whose names are preserved in their needlework. With Hannah we know only the rough dates of her birth and death, her faith, and of course her skill with a needle. But for me this sampler represents the many unknown women and girls for whom sewing was an inevitable part of life; something for which they would rarely have been recognised, celebrated or thanked. Throughout history, sewing has variously been a joy, a burden, a comfort, a necessity, a livelihood and a lifeline for countless women. This sampler reminds us of the skill and stories that lie behind that often anonymised women’s labour.

Holloway Prison badge, 1912

Sainsbury recruitment letter for female staff, 1914-18

Kat Petersen, Sainsbury Archivist: Like many shops, Sainsbury’s had to recruit women during the First World War. They took up exactly the same roles as the men they were replacing – with the exception that they were provided with chairs to sit on behind the counter. On some level this sounds like the beginnings of equality in the workplace, but what strikes me most about this letter is its expectation that women who might work are young and unmarried (not to mention living with their parents) and that being too short would disqualify you!

Having said that, many women took to being given these opportunities and by the end of the war around a third of Sainsbury’s shops were managed by women. Demobilised men were sent for refresher training before returning to their pre-war jobs, but some of the women who had taken their places remained with Sainsbury’s. I really like the story of Alice Hayes, who had become manager of the store at 43 High Street, Islington. She was demoted to saleswoman when a new male manager was appointed in December 1919, but her talents had been recognised, and when the post of manager at 159 Queen’s Crescent, Kentish Town became vacant three months later, she was offered the job and remained there until July 1931.

Coronation dress, 1953

Simone Few, Audience Lead, Exhibitions & Displays: I think it's easy to forget with our patriarchal history that we've been governed by some pretty awesome women. I love this little dress, made to be worn by Helen Clark at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This woman must also now be at least in her sixties. How exciting it must have been for a little girl to see a woman crowned as queen!

Simple Simon and Wee Willie Winkie, 1911

Roman foundation, 150-200

Trade token issued by widow Sibbel Theame, c. 1648

Hazel Forsyth, Curator: This is a trade token, coin-like objects created by business owners to allow them to make change. This token was issued by Sibbel (Sibbil) Theame, widow and resident shoemaker at Christ's Hospital School from 1654 to 1666. Sibbell had an uneasy relationship with the Hospital governors and she was often reprimanded for making poor quality shoes. She also had frequent disagreements with her next-door neighbour who accused her of harbouring 'men in her rooms'. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed a large swathe of the Hospital grounds and with it Sibbell's livelihood.

She petitioned the governors to open a stall selling ginger-bread to support her three daughters, but when this was refused she set up a drinking booth in the Town Ditch. This proved an irresistible attraction to the school boys and after various bouts of heavy drinking, Sibbell was told to pull-down her booth. The last entry in the accounts of Christ's Hospital date to the 1670s. Thereafter, nothing of Sibbell's fate is known, but this token still preserves the story of one woman which might otherwise be lost.

Georgian flirting fan, 1750

Celebrate International Women's Day at the Museum of London with gallery tours and evening events.