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 delighted to write about Nancy Astor of course but also Margaret Bondfield the first female Cabinet Minister. If you are interested in finding our a little more please see my recent blog ‘Women Firsts in Cabinet a Long View’ on this site, at Reading History or University of Reading Connecting Research
Here’s the link to the publisher’s website (Bloomsbury): Women’s Legal Landmarks in the Interwar Years
Women’s Legal Landmarks in the Interwar Years shines new light on 33 legal landmarks, many forgotten today, that affected women in England and Wales between 1918 and 1939.
It considers the work of feminist activists to bring about legal change which benefited – or aimed to benefit – women. Areas explored include property, inheritance, adoption, marriage, access to health care, criminal law, employment opportunities, pay, pensions and political representation. It also examines campaigns by key women’s organisations, and assesses the impact of early women lawyers and politicians.
While some of the landmarks effected change during this period, others provided the foundation for measures in later decades. Together the landmarks demonstrate that far from being a relatively quiet period of British feminism, the interwar period played a key role in ongoing fights for recognition, representation and justice.
Enormous thanks to editors Rosemary Auchmuty, Erika Rackley and especially Mari Takayanagi (eds.) for their help, support and enthusiasm. The Women’s Legal Landmarks website will very soon make available the ‘Not for Want to Trying’ podcast.
The first volume of Women’s Legal Landmarks Celebrating the History of Women and Law in the UK and Ireland (2018) can be found here https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/womens-legal-landmarks-9781782259794/