Lucy Macbean Ross, Medical Officer and Anaesthetist

Lucy Macbean Ross (1887-1932) was born in London where her father was manager of the London branch of the Commercial Bank of Scotland. When he died the family moved to Tain in Scotland where their mother came from. After school, Lucy studied medicine at Glasgow University and she graduated in 1912. Her older sister Elizabeth […]

Student Placements

Students from the University of York have been researching women for the project in partnership with York Museums Trust and Herstory.York. They have focused on women active in York in the 1800s, including the fascinating story of Mary Stubbs – who took a man to court in 1841 for sexual abuse and harassment, and won! […]

Maud Sellers, Guild Member

Maud Sellers (1861-1939) was the first female member of The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York in nearly 400 years; she was made an Honorary Member in 1913 and became the Honorary Curator of the Hall in 1918. Born in Harrogate and educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, she obtained her doctorate in […]

Thea Jacob, Creator of ‘Song Box’

Thea was born in Sydney, Australia in 1961 and came to the UK in 1974. She obtained an MA in Botany and postgraduate diplomas in Countryside Conservation and Crop Protection. She then worked in agricultural research in Oxfordshire and moved to York in 1994 with her family. She sang in school and University choirs and later studied singing […]

Iris Lemare, Composer

Lemare, Iris Margaret Elsie (1902–1997) was the first professional British woman conductor, and also a keen supporter of the music of British composers. She was the first woman to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra (in 1936, and 1937) – which caused a stir in the press. Educated at the Royal College of Music, she attended […]

Enid Ord, Teacher, Community Volunteer

‘A kind-hearted retired teacher well known in York for teaching generations of families in Clifton and Rawcliffe, and for her voluntary work to help others‘ (York Press) Enid Marie Ord (nee Raine) was born in Burton Stone Lane, York on 28 January 1926. When Enid was a child the family moved to Bakewell in Derbyshire where her father was headmaster of a local school.  After leaving school she worked […]

Violet Cannon, Chief Executive, York Travellers Trust

Violet (1979 -) was born into a traditional Gypsy Family, living roadside in Yorkshire until a change in the law made that increasingly difficult. She has held senior roles within Gypsy Traveller Projects for over 14 years and became CEO of York Traveller’s trust in 2018. In Violet’s own words:  “I want to fight for […]

Doreen Bolton, Publican

Doreen Bolton (1910-1996) was landlady of the Royal Oak, Goodramgate from 1938 until 1950, and claimed to be the youngest landlady in Yorkshire at the time. A member of the Gretton family of publicans, her grandmother held a licence in the 1910s, the Barrack Tavern in her husband’s name (as was customary then) and Ye […]

Lisa Kelly, York LGBT Forum

Lisa Kelly is a transgender woman. She started life as Dave, growing up in a small Yorkshire town in the 1970s and 80s, and faced bullying throughout her childhood and at school: “I knew was not male, I did not fit in”. She eventually moved away to escape the bullying and started her new life […]

Lauren Winfield, Cricketer

Lauren Winfield (1990 – ) is an international cricketer, who currently plays for Yorkshire, Northern Diamonds and England. She is a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper.  Winfield was born in York and spent her childhood pursuing her love of sport. She played cricket, football and netball. At the time, there were no women’s or girls’ teams nearby, so Winfield played boys’ and men’s cricket. Her […]