Stories
Each story on our website is a memorial to a woman, or women, whose life history was in danger of being lost. We hope you will want to read them all. We know that some visitors to this site will have an interest in a particular aspect of women's lives, or may wish to avoid certain topics. For this reason, the stories have been categorised under a variety of headings. Click on the categories below to be taken to a list of the stories that touch on that theme. We have also given you an idea how long each biography might take you to read. Different members of our team take responsibility for one or more of the categories. We are jointly responsible for 'Lawbreaking' and 'Poverty', as they are by far the largest.
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You can also view the stories that form part of a series that has been created during collaborative A Few Forgotten Women Friday research. Of course, some women fall into several categories, so their stories appear more than once. The latest additions are featured on our New Stories page. If you want to check for a particular surname or location, you can use the search box at the top of each page.
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Many stories are a result of our A Few Forgotten Women Fridays​ collaborative research days. You can access these by clicking on the specific institution or data set below. So far, these days have focussed the following institutions or data sets:
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The nature of this site means that many of the stories we tell do not make easy reading. Please be aware that some of the biographies will contain material that some readers might find distressing. If you have further information about any of the women whose stories are told here, please do get in touch. The information in these stories is accurate to the best of our knowledge, given the sources that were available to us at the time of writing. We cannot be held responsible for any errors of fact that may have inadvertently included. Please inform us if you believe that any errors have been made. Where the women have descendants, we have tried to contact them to get permission to tell their ancestor's stories. This has not always been possible. If we have told a story of your ancestors and you would rather we removed it, please do contact us.
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We accept stories from guest contributors; details of how to submit can be found here. These can be stories that also appear elsewhere, as long as you own the copyright. If you would like to write a story especially for us, we can suggest sources and resources where you might find suitable forgotten women.
You may also be interested in these sites
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Unforgotten Highland Women - podcast telling the stories of women from Highland Scotland
Bad Bridget - criminal and deviant Irish women in North America 1838-1918
Project Infant - commemorating the victims of Irish Mother and Baby Homes
The Devil's Porridge Museum - telling the story of the largest World War I munitions factory and its workers
Friends of Mendip Hospital Cemetery - this group research the stories of those buried in the former pauper lunatic asylum