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I stumbled across Heather Firbank, Edwardian fashion victim, when I made an appointment to view a dozen feathered hats at the Victoria and Albert Museum?s archive centre in Olympia, west London.? I was researching a book on the women who campaigned to save the birds from ?murderous millinery?, and I wanted to understand why theseRead more

When I started researching Margaretta Lemon, co-founder of the all-female RSPB, I assumed that she would be in favour of women?s suffrage. Of course she would! Etta Lemon, Mayoress of Reigate and co-founder of the RSPB This was a woman not afraid to swim against the current. As a girl, Etta was notorious for herRead more

I?ve written a book about female activism from the desk of a notorious Edwardian activist, Muriel Matters. Daily, I dismount my bicycle and walk through a small arch, hidden between ‘Playland’ amusement arcade and King Fish & Chips, up 20 weathered stone steps, to emerge on the glorious steep curve of Pelham Crescent, overlooking theRead more

My only gripe with Downton was that the servants never did any real work. We never got to see housemaids hand-sweeping the state room carpets at 5am, or Daisy on her knees in the kitchen with black-lead paste and three types of scrubbing brush. So please, Mr Fellowes, if you revisit this territory (and weRead more

Daisy Mason of TV’s Downton Abbey: opinionated, outspoken and ambitious The wheels at Downton Abbey have cranked forward a year. It is now 1925. And mutinous kitchen maid Daisy Mason ??now assistant cook ??is causing trouble, railing against ?the system?, speaking her mind in places she shouldn?t. Is this credible? Visiting ladies’ maids brought withRead more