International Woman's Day

[Handley_Page]

She was known in the trade as "Amazing Grace" and it may be fair to compare her with Ada Lovelace.
Take a quick look at this amazing woman; Grace Hopper; discoverer of the original 'bug'.
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[NaokoSmith]

She was known in the trade as "Amazing Grace" and it may be fair to compare her with Ada Lovelace.
Take a quick look at this amazing woman; Grace Hopper; discoverer of the original 'bug'.
.

Thanks for this, HP! I never knew the original bug was actually a moth!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

With no malice towards this woman, the Great Myth of Our Time is that Galz accomplished squat before 2013 (or whatever year you prefer).

 

[oggbashan]

With no malice towards this woman, the Great Myth of Our Time is that Galz accomplished squat before 2013 (or whatever year you prefer).

I agree. I have several women in my family tree, and my wife has some in hers, who achieved in a male-dominated era.

My eldest aunt was a Lady Typewriter before the First World War. At that time it was a high-tech and well-paid position. Throughout her life she outearned her brothers, despite women being generally paid less than men. When she retired she was the Company Secretary of a Charitable Body (A board member responsible for the efficient running of the company). She was also a Freeman of the City of London, as were many of my ancestors, male and female. Not 'honorary Freeman' which is granted by the full City Council, but working freemen, entitled to trade within the City walls.

One of my grandmothers ran a horse omnibus company in London in the late 19th Century. She employed her husband as an omnibus driver.

Several women in my family were trading in their own right in the City of London and training apprentices to their particular trade, while their husbands had different trades.

One of my wife's ancestors was widowed young. Her husband was a Thames Waterman. So was she. Her sons' apprenticeship indentures had to be transferred from her husband's name to hers.

A number of my ancestors were Scriveners before the family switched to being Printers. Both trades meant that they could read and write, an unusual skill usually confined to the clergy. But both the men and women were qualified as Master Scriveners and Printers.

In the City of London at least, being a woman was no bar to achieving status as a Freeman and trader - until the 19th Century when it became more difficult because of laws introduced to 'protect' women. Those laws didn't stop my female ancestors, just made them annoyed that they had to have a notional male as their sponsor.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I agree. I have several women in my family tree, and my wife has some in hers, who achieved in a male-dominated era.

My eldest aunt was a Lady Typewriter before the First World War. At that time it was a high-tech and well-paid position. Throughout her life she outearned her brothers, despite women being generally paid less than men. When she retired she was the Company Secretary of a Charitable Body (A board member responsible for the efficient running of the company). She was also a Freeman of the City of London, as were many of my ancestors, male and female. Not 'honorary Freeman' which is granted by the full City Council, but working freemen, entitled to trade within the City walls.

One of my grandmothers ran a horse omnibus company in London in the late 19th Century. She employed her husband as an omnibus driver.

Several women in my family were trading in their own right in the City of London and training apprentices to their particular trade, while their husbands had different trades.

One of my wife's ancestors was widowed young. Her husband was a Thames Waterman. So was she. Her sons' apprenticeship indentures had to be transferred from her husband's name to hers.

A number of my ancestors were Scriveners before the family switched to being Printers. Both trades meant that they could read and write, an unusual skill usually confined to the clergy. But both the men and women were qualified as Master Scriveners and Printers.

In the City of London at least, being a woman was no bar to achieving status as a Freeman and trader - until the 19th Century when it became more difficult because of laws introduced to 'protect' women. Those laws didn't stop my female ancestors, just made them annoyed that they had to have a notional male as their sponsor.

What we like to ignore are the three gates that kept most people from celebrity: Wealth and Health and Stealth. People got on in life helped by their money, physical stamina, and cunning. Females are disadvantaged in any world without technology. Females thrive when machines are plentiful.