Blogs and Events

My summer researching the archives and papers of the first female MP to take her seat in parliament: Nancy Astor and her role in the 1928 Equal Franchise Act at…Read More >

I am delighted to have been able to contribute two chapters to Women’s Legal Landmarks in the Interwar Years: Not for Want of Trying which was published yesterday! I was…Read More >

Labour have won a historic landslide in the 2024 general election, but it is also a historic moment for women in parliament as Rachel Reeves becomes the first female Chancellor…Read More >

I am delighted that an article ‘Who to immortalise as a sculpture? The centenary of suffrage in Britain and competing narratives of women’s emancipation’ by Julie Gottlieb (Professor of Modern…Read More >

Nancy Astor and the Tommies of the First World War: An Image Gallery of Nancy Astor’s Correspondence with Samuel Deans, by Noah Strauss First posted on March 31, 2023 by readinghistory…Read More >

Many thanks to the University of Reading for this short film on ‘Nancy Astor’s Legacy’: Uni of Reading on Twitter: “Nancy Astor was the first woman MP to take her…Read More >

First posted by Connecting Research on 14 March 2023 Much has been written about Constance Markievicz, the first woman elected to parliament at the general election 1918 and Nancy Astor,…Read More >

Announcement Here at the History Department at the University of Reading we are delighted to announce that our Astor100 stalwart and PhD researcher, Melanie Khuddro is now Dr Melanie Khuddro…Read More >

Tucked away in a time-shift segment of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is a short conversation between the playable character, Lydia Frye, and Winston Churchill. Whilst playing the game, this short exchange…Read More >

The whole of the Astor100 team were delighted and extraordinarily proud to hear the news that the Alexis Bowater, Chair of the Nancy Astor Statue Committee received an OBE in…Read More >

So here we are again, after a weekend of press and parliamentary misogyny, the subsequent outrage will inevitably simmer down and go away until the next time…and the next time……Read More >

In the spirit of the upcoming widening research focus of the Astor100 web pages, we are pleased to present a blog on the importance  and utilisation of the 1921 census by…Read More >

Nancy Astor was Britain’s first elected woman to take her seat in Parliament. In a political career that spanned over thirty years, Astor recognised her position as the first female…Read More >

We are in the process of updating the Astor100 pages to create a space for broader research on Astor and the gendererd politics of the interwar period. Please bear with…Read More >

This blogpost by Sumita Mukerhjee was first published on Parliament’s UK Vote 100 blog and is reproduced with permission. Just because I am re-reading Sumita’s work, talking to my part…Read More >

I was born in Danville Virginia and had three brothers and four sisters , all of whom I adored Lizzie was the eldest , she had pretty eyes and lovely…Read More >

We are delighted to welcome James Langhorne as our guest blogger, James is based in Virginia and is Nancy Astor’s cousin. Here, James describes Nancy Astor’s early life in Virginia….Read More >

We are delighted to announce a new article by Eleanor Lowe in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the Open Library of…Read More >

Nobody really knows how many statues of women there are in the UK. It is even more difficult to know what type of women they represent; invariably they are divided…Read More >

We are delighted to announce TWO NEW ARTICLES by Janet Smith and Yvonne Galligan in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the…Read More >

Nobody really knows how many statues of women there are in the UK. It is even more difficult to know what type of women they represent; invariably they are divided…Read More >

We are delighted to announce a new article by Krista Cowman in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the Open Library of…Read More >

We are delighted to announce TWO new articles by Helen Glew and Esther Breitenbach in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the…Read More >

We are delighted to announce another new article in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the Open Library of Humanities. The Special…Read More >

We are delighted to announce another new article in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the Open Library of Humanities. The Special…Read More >

We are delighted to announce another new article in the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor that is now live at the Open Library of Humanities. The Special…Read More >

For our latest LONG READ, we are delighted to welcome Linda Gilroy, MP for Plymouth Sutton 1997-2010. Here Linda details Plymouth’s proud history of supporting women’s politics from suffrage to…Read More >

The Astor family name is synonymous with Cliveden and Plymouth however, Scotland was very important to the family too. Waldorf and Nancy Astor first spent time in Scotland shortly after…Read More >

We are delighted to post a LONG READ by Robin Harragin Hussey on a much overlooked but fundamental influence on the life of Nancy Astor – her adherence to Christian…Read More >

Remembering Astor in Parliament Dr Mari Takayanagi Astor100 has been a great opportunity to promote women’s history in Parliament! As a Senior Archivist in the Parliamentary Archives, I’ve been working…Read More >

We are very pleased to announce that the long needed ‘go to’ collection on Nancy Astor is now live at the Open Library of Humanities. The Special Collection is edited by…Read More >

Today is Nancy Astor’s birthday – or is it? In this blog from our University Archivist, Guy Baxter, Head of Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire, family home of Waldorf and Nancy…Read More >

We are delighted to welcome one of own alumni Lisa Berry-Waite as a guest blogger this week. Lisa is now a studying for a PhD at the University of Exeter,…Read More >

Astor 100 has been an incredible success. My gender often makes me feel uneasy about writing about Nancy Astor but as the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, near enough…Read More >

As archives and research centres close their doors due to the government’s corona virus measures, we wanted to remind you that you can see a selection of materials from the…Read More >

The History Department at University of Reading are embarking on a new blog series – historical Desert Island Discs. You can find the series via twitter @UniRdg_History or directly on…Read More >

International Women’s Day is celebrating its 109th year, and it is still as relevant as ever to women everywhere. There is so much that has been achieved, but yet so…Read More >

Astor 100 has meant a huge amount to me personally, primarily it has been a wonderful tribute to the life, legacy and work of my grandmother Nancy Astor, as well…Read More >

This month we are celebrating the 100-year mark of Nancy Astor delivering her maiden speech to the House of Commons. A little over two months after becoming the first women…Read More >

When my design was selected for the statue of Nancy Astor on February 14th 2019, I knew I was embarking on quite a journey. An incredible amount of passion and…Read More >

I have been privileged to be the curator of Astor100, a major bipartisan series of academic and public engagements that have taken place during 2019 and Spring 2020. The programme…Read More >

An important commemoration The centenary commemoration of Nancy Astor’s election to Parliament by a by-election to become the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons couldn’t…Read More >

One hundred years ago today, on 24 February 1919, Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the house of Commons. Here, Professor Rowbotham, an independent scholar and Visiting…Read More >

2019 marked the centenary of Nancy Astor’s entry into Parliament, leaving a fascinating legacy for women today. The National Archives plays host to a variety of documents that illuminate this…Read More >

On 28 November 1919, Nancy Astor was elected to Parliament, becoming the first female MP to take her seat. A century on, a train named in her honour took VIP…Read More >

As the Nancy Astor Express makes its inaugural journey to Plymouth for the historic unveiling of a bronze statue to Nancy Astor, four research students from the Department of History…Read More >

A TRAIN named after the first female MP to take her seat in UK parliament will retrace her historic journey between London and her constituency.  A Great Western Railway train, The Nancy Astor,…Read More >

On 28 November, two weeks ahead of the General Election, a group of History MA students will witness the unveiling of the first public statue to a British female MP…Read More >

28 November 2019 marks the hundredth anniversary of the election of Nancy Astor as the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons, following a closely…Read More >

Nancy Astor’s election agent, Christopher George Briggs was one of a new breed of agents who established the National Society of Conservative Agents. Here,  Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of…Read More >

“TO be honest with you, we never thought you’d do it,” said many, after we’d smashed our Crowdfunder. Indeed so many that I wondered why not one had said a…Read More >

It’s now less than six weeks until the moment we’ll install a bronze statue of Nancy Astor on Plymouth Hoe to commemorate the first female MP to take her seat…Read More >

Blog post from The History of Parliament by Dr Jacqui Turner from the University of Reading and PhD student, Kate Meanwell, discussing Nancy Astor’s role as a mother to her five children as…Read More >

Rachel Newton was one of two Reading undergraduates to take their research to Westminster last week for the annual Posters in Parliament event. Here she tells us about spending her…Read More >

The installation of a statue commemorating Nancy Astor, the first woman to take her seat in the UK Parliament moved a step closer this week when a designer was chosen…Read More >

PRESS RELEASE:  27 November 2018 A year-long series of activities and public events celebrating Britain’s first woman to sit in Parliament has launched, leading up to the centenary of her election…Read More >

Today is the 99th anniversary of Lady Nancy Astor’s election to Parliament in a by-election in Plymouth, becoming the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons….Read More >

UK PRIME MINISTER BACKS CAMPAIGN TO RAISE A STATUE TO LADY NANCY ASTOR Release Date 02 November 2018 UK Prime Minister Theresa May has backed a campaign to erect a…Read More >