Welcome to my first newsletter of 2024… it takes the theme of unheard voices and unsung heroes…. Old Bill Old Bill (left) and Thomas Rafferty (right) He was one of the best-known British characters from World War One. Artist Bruce… Read More ›
women’s history
In search of the real Margaret Fairlie
Fresh research has cast new light on the identity of Margaret Fairlie, an orderly in the original Scottish Women’s Hospitals group which established a hospital at Royaumont Abbey in northern France in 1914. Like others, I had assumed this was… Read More ›
Women’s golf 125 years ago
Gullane is currently hosting the 2022 Women’s Open. These are the competitors for the Ladies Open in 1897. They’re gathered outside the Old Clubhouse – since extended and now a very fine pub. Women’s golf was in the ascendancy then… Read More ›
The legacy of Elsie Inglis – Edinburgh’s shame
Recent controversies over the centenary of World War One sometimes overlook a key factor – how the survivors wanted it to be remembered by future generations. In the case of Dr Elsie Inglis, this was quite simple – build maternity… Read More ›
The Women of Royaumont – a unique film
This gem from the Scottish Screen Archive shows the work of some extraordinarily brave women – click on the picture to view. It is intriguing in many ways – as one of the earliest documentaries, perhaps the only moving image… Read More ›
Just another football post
Manchester United in 1905/06 Image via Wikipedia Football has always been about finding the net. And there is no doubt that it has found it over the last five years with an explosion in newly-digitised historical material. Digital history is… Read More ›
The History Company 