Ladies Who London

Project 32, this week we're south of the river in Bromley. Home to Margaret Finch, Queen of the Gypsies. (We're using the term as that's how she would have been known at the time). A mysterious figure who loitered by a lychgate. Margaret was elected Queen by the Roma community. Part figurehead, part ambassador, part advisor, she drew visitors to Norwood to consult her cards. Royals, celebrities, t...

The radical preacher who served in Parliament and the son who followed in his footsteps, but maybe for very different reasons. Between them they span the 1600s,a time of great change in London, and the century that might just be Fiona's favourite. Praise God for the Barebones family. And the bricks and mortar legacy of one of London's most ambitious, unscrupulous businessmen. As Alex says "it's an...

The 2nd week of project 32, and London's 2nd most populous borough. This week we are stumbling around in the fog of the Battle of Barnet. Who is fighting who? who trusts who? We're in the midst of the Wars of the Roses, and the kingdom is at stake. The biggest failure of the battle - it's Heraldry itself. Hang your head in shame heraldry, you cost lives that day. Plus the tale of Dirty Gertie's ar...

We're in between boroughs this week as Alex goes gaga for Miss Lala (as painted be Degas). She wowed the crowds in Paris and London with her phenomenal strongwoman act, on the trapeze, holding herself, and others, with her teeth. Her portrait is still wowing the crowds at the National Gallery. Pop in to pay her a visit and decide for yourselves, what do you see at first glance? Is she jumping? We...

It's the long awaited, hotly anticipated, much hyped launch of Project 32. Our deep dive into all the boroughs of London. And Alex is kicking off this week with Barking and Dagenham and a group of women who changed the world of work for the better. It's 1968 and the female sewing machinists of Ford are not happy. Not surprising when they are classified as less skilled than the men sweeping the fac...

We're BAAAACK! Oh gang, we've missed you! After an eventful summer, Alex and Fiona are back in your ears, and we have been out and about. Following on from our episode with the Gasketeers a while ago, we have been to meet the very lamp lighters whose job it is to keep the London gas lamps lit - we have visited HQ and nerded out about finials, housings, mantles and how to tell your Grosvenors from...

We're off travelling this week, from London to Oxford, via Greece and Egypt, to find out about the female manifestations of the rivers Thames and Isis. How did the Thames get its name? Is it as simple as it sounds? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1966. A year that lives on in the memory of the English as the year that England won the World Cup. But it's also the year that England LOST the World Cup too. Huh? Alex delves into the last topic she thought she would ever discuss, which is FOOTBALL. Not her natural home, but there's a good reason why, on this one. Because, like everything, there is a fantastic story behind the story of how the w...

What does the 6th June have in common this year? It is both D-Day and national fish and chip day. So we are spreading two themes in one here, which have a bit of an odd link. We are not just talking f&c, but we are looking at how it links in to WW2, as well as seeing how the very unlikely gooseberries and mulberries fit into the picture. Confused? Yeah, we thought you might be. We're not, however,...

Fiona is back, and cracking out a fantastic story, picking up a loose thread from a few weeks ago, Mary Wortley Montague. An intriguing woman, Mary disappeared to Italy after her marriage went a bit wonky, and also took up the mantle of innoculating children well ahead of the UK more generally, and showed people how it could be done, and how it could help by publicly innoculating her own daughter....

Alex is flying solo this week, as we take on the story of Dido Belle, the young mixed race woman, born to am enslaved woman, and brought up in British high society. Born to a British ship's captain, and an enslaved woman being transported to Jamaica, Dido was brought back to the UK and entrusted to one of the highest Judges in the land. Her story was hidden until the 1990s, and we are taking a loo...

We don't half love an Operation here at the Ladies Who London podcast! This, however, is no military operation, although it is no less audacious or finnickity. How do you build huge infrastructure when the place you need to build is one of the busiest spots in London? Well, that is the question. Operation Umbrella was the answer to this exact question. While needing to use the space but also redev...

Heave ho me'hearties, this week we are setting sail aboard the good ship Hamilton, as we take a look at one of history's most famous mistresses, Emma Hamilton. But does she deserve such a reductive title? Surely there is more to her than we think we know? Boy are you in for a treat! We careen from the Temple of Health and the Celestial Bed (remember that?!) to the glamorous streets of Naples, the...

Well this is an episode, kids. Fiona has seen a squirrel and gone on a mad goose chase through the annals of history, chasing down the elusive Montagus. Where will we end up?! Heaven only knows...Alex certainly doesn't! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This sounds like one of Sherlock's great cases - the mysterious disappearance of Elizabeth Canning, but it is a true story. What you may not know is that she comes back - after about a month, and in a pretty dire situation. So far, so horrible but straightforward. But then, once her kidnappers are tried, convicted, and thrown in prison, something really odd happens. The whole case turns on its hea...

We've been threatening this one for a while, gang! Here is the unedited history of Titus Oates, and who exactly is he? Is he a brave, whistleblowing legend, or a deluded fantasist who is about to put his foot in it? Come with us to find out more And podcast pedestal returns! After overwhelming support, the pedestal makes a comeback, and you get to tell us what you think is the most important part...

A week late to Trans Visibility Day, but that is on brand for us! This week's episode is all about the Chevalier d'Eon, spy to King Louis XV, and all round enigma! Were they trans? They lived as both man and woman in both France and England over many years. What weird stipulation did the King make in a deal with the Chevalier and why? We delve into this story, surrounded by myth and mystery to try...

It is time. We've been threatening it for a year, so let's get down and dirty with the City of London livery companies! I know, I know, it's hard to contain your excitement. Fiona gets into an A-Z of livery companies, everything you never knew you wanted to know, and we find out why the loving cup is a thing, whether the Upholders really make bras, and why oh why is a demi-virgin so named. All the...

It's us, but different! We come to you LIVE, recorded last week at the Wanstead tap in east London. There are few audio teething issues at the start, but bear with, as it does come together! We had the great pleasure of talking to the lovely Leo Hollis, author of Inheritance - the tragedy of Mary Davies, and what a story it is! A little-discussed but very influential woman, Mary inherited swathes...

TRIGGER WARNING - contains themes of murder and violence against women. It's the return of Katie from Look Up London! Twice in one month, aren't we lucky?! Katie joins us to talk about some of the women involved in the famous case of the 19thC serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. But we are not focusing on him and his action. We are focusing on the women - who were they? What are their stories?...

We're on site this week at the new, fantastic exhibition of Women of the RNLI at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the RNLI. We talk to former Tower lifeboat station manager Janet, archivist Hayley Whiting, and photographer Jack Lowe about his amazing project to photograph every single lifeboat station in the UK. Join us as we find out more about this...

It's International Women's Day! So we have invited back one of our regular guests, Katie Wignall, to help us talk about 3 fabulous London women. Bella Burge - boxing impresario Mary Somerville - the first scientist Ada Coleman - one of the best bartenders who ever lived. And it wouldn't be us without having a competition about who is the best! Take a look at our socials to have your say. Learn mor...

It's the first of your podcast picks, and the winner was Elizabeth Fry, the angel of Newgate. Shocked by the abject conditions she found in the most notorious of prisons, Newgate, she put her whole life on hold to try and improve the situation for the women imprisoned there. If she could make even one person's experience better, then it would be worth it. She achieved that, and so much more. Come...

Londoners will tell you that London Bridge was once sold to a man who thought he was buying Tower Bridge. That man was Robert Paxton McCulloch, who in 1964 bought London Bridge and had it shipped to Arizona. But did he really think he was buying Tower Bridge, or is that just a fantastical myth spun for a bit of a laugh? This week we delve into the story of how one of London's most famous landmarks...

Well gang, we've been threatening this one for a while. And you know what happens when we threaten a topic? Yes, we get round to it after about 3 years. Don't say we never treat you. This week we are FINALLY getting round to chatting all things Great Exhibition. From Tempest Prognosticators to naked statues in tents, huge chunks of gold and coal, and a glass atrium that welcomed 6 million people o...