Category: Century Girls

Wednesday What I’m reading and Want To Read – Anyone read The Geurnsey literary and potato peel pie?

I still have Tractors in Ukraine by Monica Lwecyca to finish.

WWW Wednesday (21-03-2018) — The Belgian Reviewer

I have also started Century Girls by Tessa Dunlop.

Century Girls

I have Tender is the Night by Scot Fitzgerald to read for May book club.

I have also been reading about The Guernsey lottery and potatoes peel pie society which is a book, that is being released as a film in UK on 20th April. Apparently it is written in the form of letters; therefore film will be very different. It sounds interesting, but I do not know if got time to read.

Happy birthday: Ann Baur

I have googled and can not find anything to suggest she has died. She would be 104 today. I came across her in the book Century Girl’s by Tessa Dunlop.

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Ann had a keen interest in medical times: She wrote a book called Down by the Common; a year in the life of a medieval woman. She also illustrated a book, about medical times. She was aDirector of the fine art publishers Ganymed Press, alongside her husband Bernhard.

Century Girls

 

A Woman’s work is never done …

Post book club reflections regarding Harriet Harman’s A Woman’s work

Cocoa book club hence brownie, strawberry lemonade and pina colada tea.

The book provoked interesting discussion! I could not remember my initial thoughts on reading books. Those who had just read wanted more of her personal life in, rather than it being a political memoir. But we acknowledged that, along with the other areas she has been rather a pioneer in as a woman, she is a bit of a pioneer as a woman writing in politics writing an autobiography. She would not have wanted to dumb her career down and write a chick flick of an autobiography rather than a political memoir.

Still I agree it could have been more personal. The book was called a woman’s work. It was informative about political career but as the saying goes a women’s work is never done! You may do a day in office then hurry home, to feed, bathe and put t bed kids, whilst put a load of washing on then ironing or catching up with work e-mails … your sleep may be disturbed by needs of child during night … Harriet talks about the struggles of other women and admits she was lucky as could pay for childcare. But is could have gone a lot further …exactly how did she make it work? Women need to know how you do it! How supportive was her husband? What was the impact on her children of her career? We felt a good editor would have, asked these questions and got her to include.

A couple of people had listened to the audio book and found her tone hard to listen to; dull, school teachery; too proud were some comments. We discussed how in writing, she made it sound like she had achieved a lot single handed; which will not have been the case. However, women can undersell self. Whereas a man (or a successful person) will say I did; this, this and this! Whereas in actual fact the successful person, may have had the initial idea but then their team did donkey work; form filling, filling etc.… then successful person claims as their success!

Having been born a few weeks after Harriet was elected as an MP, it is amazing the progress, during my life. Yes women still not equally represented in parliament but compared to the last 100 years … I’m also enjoying learning currently from the book Century Girls by Tessa Dunlop which covers women born between 1914 -1918. In 1918; the first women were allowed to vote. But only women over 30 could vote. Now women, vote at the same age as men. In the early 70s women could not own property without their husband or father on the title deeds. Today, I own property in my name, I vote in honour of women who gave lives for that right. But if a man lived in my household; the form to confirm who in the household was eligible to vote would be addressed to them! I’m entitled to a year’s maternity leave; up until 2007 then women were only entitled to 18 weeks. Additionally that leave can be shared with partner so, it is not necessarily woman who has to sacrifice chunk of career.

A Woman’s Work by Harriet Harman

A Woman’s work by Harriet Harmen

A Woman’s Work by Harriet Harman

A Woman’s Work by Harriet Harman

A Woman’s Work by Harriet Harman

A Woman’s Work by Harriet Harman

Education for all! A slogan of 1918 UK election

Century Girls

Century Girls

Would you like to be a century girl or boy I.e live to 100?

I would!

In the UK when you reach 100, the monarch sends you a telegram. According to the book, I have started reading by Tessa Dunlop, called Century Girls, there are currently 14thousand people in the UK aged 100 or over. The book says that a team of 7 is employed to oversee the sending of the telegrams. Perhaps in 65 years when I’m 100; there will be so many people over 100, that telegrams would not be sent. If they were sent they would probably be sent by a King either the current Prince William or Prince George.

At the time I was born there was a Queen and a female Prime Minster, Margaret Thatcher. A couple of weeks before, I was born Harriet Harman became the first pregnant MP. At the time there were more John’s is parliament than women. Now we still have Queen Elizabeth, after a few male prime ministers there is another female prime minster; Teresa May. Therefore, I know what women can achieve. However, I also know that there are still more male than female MPs. The current female prime minster does not have children due to fertility issues. The prime minster of Australia is currently pregnant.

100 years ago in 1918, the first women in the UK gained the right to vote. Women over 30, were allowed to vote. In the same year a law was passed to allow women to be elected as MPs.

According to Wikipedia The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, and was held on Saturday 14 December 1918. It was the first general election to be held on a single day, although the vote count did not take place until 28 December due to the time taken to transport votes from soldiers serving overseas.

In the 1918 election Constance Markievi was elected as a MP however, she did not sit in parliament due to being a member of Sein Fein. The first women to sit in parliament was Nancy Astor, she was elected following a by election in December 1919.

In Tessa Dunlop’s book 6 women alive in 1918 tell there story. The first story mentioning the events of 1918 is Ann’s. Ann Baer nee Sidgewick was born 4th April 1914. She was 4, in 1918. The biggest impact of Women Suffrage is she had a doll named Panky. Her Mother was not old enough to vote in the election. At the time her Mother was pregnant with her 5th child.