Much has been written about the men of Wakefield, but apart from a couple of well-documented individuals, the women of Wakefield have remained largely ignored.
Yet many women in this prosperous West Riding town worked hard to improve their lives and those of other women. Whether this was healthcare, housing, working conditions or providing refuge and training so that girls with no means of support could be made fit for employment, Wakefield’s women worked separately and together to achieve their mutual goals.
Some were active campaigners and lobbyists, others chose vocations that quietly improved the lives of the women around them.
Struggle and Suffrage in Wakefield uses historical newspaper articles, minutes of meetings, annual reports, first-hand stories and research into census returns to illustrate how women’s lives changed over a 100 year period and reveal some of those Wakefield women whose influence made things happen.
Pursuing her passion for delving into family and social history, Gaynor Haliday started sharing the stories she had uncovered, by writing magazine articles about her ancestors. Her first book, Victorian Policing (Pen & Sword, November 2017), was inspired by her great, great grandfather’s policing career.
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