The life and adventures of Ann (also spelled ‘Anne’) Jane Thornton, a woman who defied the prescribed gender roles of the nineteenth century, are commemorated in the popular broadside ballad The Female Sailor.
Ann Jane Thornton resisted society’s gender restrictions by dressing in male clothing and going to sea as a sailor. She was born in 1817 in Gloucestershire and was the daughter of a shopkeeper. When Ann was just 6 years old her mother died, and her father moved the family to Donegal, Ireland.
TheFemale Sailor ballad captures Ann’s meeting and falling in love with an American Captain named Alexander Burke when she was just 15 years old. The two got engaged, but shortly afterwards, the Captain returned to New York to visit his father. Not wanting to be left behind, Ann needed a way to finance her travels to follow her beloved, and so she took the unconventional decision to become a female sailor, leaving her life in Ireland behind.
Anne Jane Thornton by Unknown artist, woodcut, published 1835 (National Portrait Gallery, Reference Collection, NPG D13549). Used by permission of The National Portrait Gallery under the terms of a Creative Commons Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
In the nineteenth century, sailing was a male-dominated activity and women were banned from seafaring professions as many believed that having women onboard was bad luck. Women were also thought to be at risk of sexual harassment and violence from the male crew if permitted on board. As a result, the only way for Ann to pursue her goal of following her fiancé was to disguise herself as a man.
Ann proceeded to obtain male clothing and journeyed to England, where she then boarded a ship to New York as a cabin boy. Once in New York, Ann sought out her beloved fiancé but received the devastating news that he had died.
Whilst abroad, Ann needed an income to support herself, and so she took a job as a cook and steward onboard the Adelaide, earning nine dollars a month. TheFemale Sailor ballad stresses how Ann took part in every task the same as her male colleagues, doing her duty ‘like a man’, and convincingly taking on her new identity. As well as working on the Adelaide, Ann also worked aboard the Rover and the Belfast, before eventually heading back to London as a ship’s cook onboard the Sarah.
Ann Jane Thornton was far from the only woman to don male clothing and become a sailor. Another broadside ballad within Special Collections and Archives, called the Female Rambling Sailor, tells the story of Rebekah Young, who went by the name Billy Bridle. Whilst at sea, she died by falling from the top of the mast. This ballad perhaps served as a warning to any other women considering disguising their sex to become a sailor.
Ann lived in her new identity as a man for the whole three years she was away from home, going by the name Jim Thornton from Donegal. Conflicting accounts exist of whether it was upon her return to London, or whilst docked in Lisbon, Portugal, that Ann’s sex was revealed, but either way her identity was outed and her life as a sailor came to an end. The revelation happened as a result of a male colleague on board the Sarah catching sight of Ann’s breasts while she was washing. He threatened to disclose her identity to the ship’s Captain unless she had sex with him. Refusing to submit to the sexual harassment, Ann’s identity was revealed to the Captain. Describing the event later, the Captain claimed he was the last to know and could barely believe it.
It is difficult to determine how much of these accounts are true, with many contrasting versions of the ballad existing. However, the very fact of so many iterations surviving demonstrates the extent to which Ann’s story captured the imagination of the British public. Her story was widely reported in newspapers as well as being popularised in The Female Sailor ballad. After reading the newspaper reports, the Lord Mayor of London allegedly sent a city police inspector to investigate her story. The mayor scolded Ann for leaving her father, but also praised her courage, offering to support her financially until she could return home to Ireland.
c.1835 Engraving of Ann Thornton, the Female Sailor Going Aloft, by unknown artist. Image available via Wikimedia Commons
Ann’s story was told many times by other people. However, the autobiographical chapbook – Interesting Life and Wonderful Adventures of that Extraordinary Woman, Anne Jane Thornton, the Female Sailor, disclosing important secrets, unknown to the public, written by herself – offers a rare insight into the personal experiences of Ann’s life as a female sailor. The publication of this book ultimately provided Ann with the opportunity to reclaim her adventures and recall them in her own voice.
This Treasure of the Month feature was researched and written by Special for Everyone placement student Daisy Alys-Vaughan of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. our Special for Everyone project.
In 1865-66, Joseph Crawhall II (1821-1896) set about creating a manuscript catalogue of all the Mayors and Sheriffs of Newcastle upon Tyne, as afternoon and evening recreation. He took his information from manuscripts and published records, such as Henry Bourne’s TheHistory of Newcastle upon Tyne (1736). Crawhall’s manuscript comprises an index of names and dates, followed by chronological illustrations of the crests of those who served as Mayor and Sheriff. Some of the shields are left blank but Crawhall tells us “This M.S. is complete excepting finishing the colouring of the various shields which I reserve for my leisure”. The manuscript has been partially digitised and available on CollectionsCaptured.
Although Crawhall’s catalogue begins in 1401, with Roger Thornton (d.1430), Newcastle has had an elected mayor since 1216. In 1906, the city was awarded lord mayoralty in recognition of it being the principal town and seaport in the north of England. It wasn’t until 1956 that Newcastle had its first female Lord Mayor, Violet Hardisty Grantham (1893-1983) and it was only in 2021 that the first non-white Lord Mayor, Habib Rahman, was elected.
The title page of Crawhall’s manuscript is followed by a splendid hand-coloured coat of arms for the city. Three castles are supported by two seahorses. The castle motif has its origins in the new castle, built by order of Robert Curthose in 1080, from whence the town took its name. The seahorses serve to remind us that Newcastle is a seaport. At the top, is a lion holding the staff (flagpole) of the St. George’s pennant (flag); at the bottom, is the Latin motto which translates into ‘Triumphing by Brave Defence’. The motto was adopted during the English Civil War, after the town defended itself against the Scots in 1644.
Coat of arms, Newcastle upon Tyne: Crawhall, J. The Mayors & Sheriffs of Newcastle upon Tyne, from MCCCC to this Present Year, with their Coats of Arms (1866) (Crawhall 63)
As one would expect, those who have served as Mayor have been distinguished people. Thomas Horsley (1462-c.1545) was an agricultural merchant, magistrate, and Sheriff who defended Newcastle’s mercantile interests ensuring Newcastle remained an important centre of trade in the North East and who served as Mayor in 1514, 1519, 1524-25 and 1533. Today, he is remembered as the founder of Newcastle’s oldest educational institution, the Royal Grammar School (RGS), in 1525.
Crawhall has completed Horsley’s coat of arms under his term as Sheriff in 1512. It is a red shield with three horse’s heads (bottom right shield in below image). Next to it, Crawhall has sketched a bridled horse, with the annotation “horses reined or in w”.
Coat of arms of Thomas Horsley (1462-c.1545)
John Marlay (1590-1673) would later fall from grace and wealth but was Mayor 1642-44 and was appointed as military Governor for Newcastle by Charles I. A merchant, military commander, and politician, he held the town for seven months while it was besieged by the Scots army and fought in the streets when they stormed the town in 1644. He is also alleged to have saved the distinctive Lantern Tower of St. Nicholas’ Cathedral from destruction by ordering Scots prisoners into the tower.
Crawhall depicts the coat of arms of Sir John Marlay, knight, as a white shield with a black chevron and three black birds (top left shield in below image). He has based this on information contained in a manuscript by Ralph Waters.
Coat of arms of Sir John Marlay (1590-1673)
Sir Walter Calverley Blackett (1707-1777) was Mayor five times, in 1735, 1748, 1756, 1764 and 1771. He was born in Otley (Yorkshire) to Sir Walter Calverley and Julia Blackett but inherited estates from his uncle under certain conditions, which included his adoption of the Blackett coat of arms. He would later sell several of the estates and move to Cambo (Northumberland) where he improved Wallington Hall. (Upon his death, Wallington Hall passed to the Trevelyan family into which his sister had married, and Special Collections holds the papers of several generations of the Trevelyan family.)
Sir Walter was a philanthropist: he built a library; supported relief for people that found themselves unemployed by the harbour freezing; and regularly supported the Newcastle Infirmary.
It is the Blackett coat of arms that Crawhall has painted under the entry for Mayor in 1735: a white shield with a black chevron on which are arranged three shells. Three black stars are arranged above and below the chevron (top left shield in below image). Under the shield, Crawhall has written in red “Bourne ceases”, in reference to the publication of one of his aforementioned historical sources.
Coat of arms of Walter Calverley Blackett (1707-1777)
Crawhall has included his own family’s coat of arms as his father, Joseph Crawhall I (1793-1853) was Mayor in 1849-50. Crawhall I was also a magistrate, rope-maker, friend to the naturalist and wood engraver Thomas Bewick, and an artist. Unsurprisingly, Crawhall has rendered his family’s coat of arms with great care (second row, left shield in below image). The lower two thirds of the shield are red, with a stook of golden grain; the upper third is white with three crows. Above the shield, another crow is painted standing on another stook of corn. The family motto, below the shield, translates as ‘I have neither want nor care’.
Coat of arms of Joseph Crawhall (1793-1853)
Joseph Crawhall I was succeeded as Mayor by the industrialist, engineer, and philanthropist William Armstrong (1810-1900), after whom Armstrong College (now the Armstrong Building, Newcastle University) was named.
6th of May 2023 marks the coronation of King Charles III. Coronations are often associated with pomp, pageantry, music and tradition. New works are published and events are recorded by people attending or celebrating the coronation of a new monarch.
One example of this can be found in our Collection of books published in the 19th Century. In 1727 George II commissioned his favourite composer George Frederic Handel to compose new music for his coronation. Handel’s Anthems for the Coronation included The King Shall Rejoice, Let Thy Hand be Strengthened, My Heart is Inditing, and perhaps most famously, Zadok the Priest. Special Collections holds a copy of the music of the four anthems, published in 1843 by the Handel Society. Since George II’s coronation the anthems have been used in all coronations since.
1801-1850 Collection 786 HAN
Traces of the pageantry and celebrations of coronations past can also be found in our archives. In August 1902 King Edward VII was crowned at Westminster Abbey and London was well decorated for the occasion! In one of the photograph albums of our Plowden Archive we find several photographs, likely taken a member of the local Bell family of industrialists, of preparations for the event. This included the hanging of garlands in the City, the erection of temporary stands for spectators of the processions to and from Westminster Abbey, and a temporary annexe built at the West end of the Abbey to allow formal processions to assemble under cover.
Plowden (Bridget) Archive BP/30/4/10 – street scene in London
Plowden (Bridget) Archive BP/30/4/10 – street scene in London
Plowden (Bridget) Archive BP/30/4/10 – street scene in London
In our photograph albums, compiled by the Trevelyan family of Wallington we find another link to the 1902 coronation in the form of an admission ticket to 49 and 50 Parliament Street. This address is only a very short walk from Westminster and would have given the bearer a prime seat to see the king travelling to and from Westminster Abbey.
King Edward reinged until 1910, when he was succeeded by his son, who became King George V. His coronation was held on the 22nd June 1911. In our Plowden Archive we find evidence that members of the Bell family had an even closer view of proceedings than close by on the procession route. This is in the form of an official invitation to His Majesty’s Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire and Lady Bell to attend the coronation service in Westminster Abbey. They are better known as Sir Hugh and Lady Florence Bell, industrialists, and parents of explorer and political figure Gertrude Bell.
Plowden (Bridget) Archive BP/30/4/32 – Invite to attend the Coronation of George V at Westminster Abbey
In 1904 Hugh and Florence’s daughter, Molly (Mary) married Charles Philips Trevelyan a landowner and politician. His political career led him to joining the Privvy Council in 1924 and becoming Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland in 1930. In early 1936 George V died and he was succeeded by his son, Edward VIII. Edward’s reign was a short and controversial one which ended with his well-known abdication on the 11th of December 1936, without him being crowned in a coronation. His younger brother George VI succeeded him, and as a member of the Privvy Council Charles Trevelyan had a front row seat at the proclamation of the new king. As he wrote in a letter to his wife Molly “I am going to St James’ Palace to the signing of the Proclamation and whatever other formalities there may be in regard to the new king.”
Trevelyan (Charles Philips) Archive CPT/3/92/103 – Letter from Charles to Molly regarding Charles’ attendance at the proclamation of King George VI.
Later letters in the archive go on to document the celebrations surrounding King George VI’s coronation in 1937 which was attended by Charles and Molly, and the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. The archive was deposited with Newcastle University by Charles and Molly’s family following Molly’s death in 1966.
There are many other items in our rare book and archive collections which document celebrations around the crowning of a new monarch, ranging in date from the crowing of Queen Victoria in 1838 to the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. These include song books, Many of these have been digitised and can be found on our CollectionsCaptured site here: https://collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/search/searchterm/coronation
If you drive (or walk!) west out of Newcastle along Sandyford Road, you will pass John Dobson’s Jesmond Cemetery on the left. Look over the road and you will see a stone wall with a grand entrance featuring two large stone columns on either side. A modern sign informs you that this is the entrance to Sandyford Park. Entering the grounds, a narrow winding road passes sheltered accommodation and mature trees before arriving at the main entrance to the Newcastle High School for Girls. This appears to be a large old house, which, in the late 19th century, was the home of Dr Charles Gibb. Dr Gibb was a respected Newcastle surgeon immortalised in the Geordie anthem, ‘The Blaydon Races’:
Sum went to the Dispensary an’ uthers to Doctor Gibb’s, An’ sum sought out the Infirmary to mend their broken ribs.
Photograph of Dr Charles Gibb (CG/3/14)
The Gibb (Charles) Archive contains papers relating to Dr Gibb’s career as a local GP. It also features some interesting photographs of his home at Sandyford Park. We’ve been along to Newcastle High School for Girls and they very kindly let us walk around the grounds so we could attempt a then-and-now comparison of locations.
Here’s the entrance to Villa Real/Sandyford Park in the 1880s and a current (March 2023) view (seen below). The two original inner columns have disappeared (from this location) but the lamps appear to have survived or are reproductions of the originals.
THEN: The original entrance to Villa Real, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/1)
NOW: The entrance to Sandyford Park, March 2023
NOW: The two smaller columns from the original main entrance appear to have been relocated as a secondary entrance to the High School, March 2023
The house was built by Newcastle architect John Dobson for Captain John Dutton in 1817 and was originally called Villa Real. It was one of Dobson’s earliest designs, set in 21 acres of land featuring a fishpond, fishing house, and spring. There was a lodge on Sandyford Road, and wide curved lawns edged with woodland, with glasshouses to the north-west and two pineries and vinery sheds with a chimney in the woodland behind. East of the house was a vast walled garden with a cistern at its centre. Further east there was a melon ground.
THEN: Sandyford Road lodge in the snow, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/26)NOW: Location of the Sandyford Road lodge, March 2023
The impressive entrance porch was supported by Tuscan columns. The house was designed with large bow windows which gave views onto an expansive lawn and across the field to a fishpond.
THEN: The entrance porch, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/7)NOW: The entrance porch, March 2023. English Heritage draw particular attention to the dome on the roofTHEN: Entrance porch and bow windows, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/9)NOW: The house in March 2023. The outline of the wooden conservatory visible in CG/4/2/9 can still be seen.THEN: Boating on the fishpond, with the house in the background, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/15)
THEN: Although the fishpond no longer exists, the area appears to have remains of it, including a very small pond and various stone structures, March 2023
THEN: Workers’ buildings and sheds which have been converted to homes known as Nazareth Mews. They are now isolated from the main house, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/19)NOW: Nazareth Mews, March 2023
Dr Gibb had taken up residence in Villa Real after living and practicing in the centre of Newcastle. His home/surgery is now memorialised with a blue plaque as Gibb Chambers at 52-54 Westgate Road, where the injured Blaydon Races revellers went to seek treatment. Villa Real became Sandyford Hall in 1883 and then Sandyford Park. When Gibb died in 1916 the property was taken over by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth for nearly 80 years, and was renamed Nazareth House. In 1996 the Sisters transferred to London and for a while the house was managed by Catholic Care North East. It is now known as Chapman House, the main reception for the Newcastle High School for Girls. It was given an English Heritage Grade II listing in 1987.
The Gibb (Charles) Archive also contains internal shots of the house, showing the high Victorian penchant for rooms with an (over-)abundance of paintings, ornaments, and furniture.
Inside the house, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/25)Inside the house, c. 1890s (CG/4/2/21)
Written by Robinson bequest student Becky Sanderson
Newcastle University Special Collections and Archives currently houses 972 transcripts which contain the detailed radio transmissions of day-to-day stories and science told by the members of the British North Greenland Expedition (BNGE) 1952-1954. The BNGE traversed north Greenland, exploring the great white landscape from Dronning Louise Land in the east, to Thule in the west. The team undertaking this feat ranged from glaciologists and geophysicists to naval wireless operators and naval medical officers. Within the team, familiar scientific names jump out including Stan Paterson, Colin Bull, Malcolm Slessor, James Simpson, and Newcastle University’s own Hal Lister.
Hal was an undergraduate student at Newcastle before, and an academic staff member after the expedition. Hal was also a member of many Antarctic missions and potentially one of the first people to overwinter in both Greenland and Antarctica. While on the expedition, he maintained his links to Newcastle University when applying for a Shell Studentship. Hal needed the reference of a senior academic at his institution and reached out to Professor Henry Daysh (head of the Department of Geography, now School of Geography, Politics & Sociology, up until his retirement in 1966).
My interest in the archive is driven through my love of glaciology. I am currently undertaking my PhD within the Physical Geography department at Newcastle University focusing primarily on Antarctic research. Therefore, my knowledge of the archive was very limited until reading the 1957 book ‘High Arctic’ by Mike Banks (one of the expedition members) and delving further into the archive. I was given the opportunity to transcribe and order the transcripts through the Robinson Bequest Bursary. Before I begin, my understanding was that I would be trawling through hundreds of pages of scientific reports and findings. However, much to my delight, not only does the archive contain scientifically important datasets, methods and polar expedition logistics, but the archive also contains heart-warming Christmas messages (Fig. 1), birthday messages, notifications of the birth of family members, requests for alcohol and cheese and many jokes about how cold the temperature is in the Arctic.
Fig. 1. Message reads: “SANTA CLAUS PASSED TODAY LOADED WITH PRESENTS THANK MUMMY FOR LETTER BOOKS DID YOU SEE MUMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU BOTH WARMEST LOVE DADDY // DADDY” (British North Greenland Expedition Archive, GEX/01-234)
Overall, the BNGE was a huge success. The research findings and data collected on the expedition (Hamilton, 1958 and references within) have contributed to long term quantification of ice sheet change studies (Paterson and Reeh, 2001) and generated scientific questions that are still relevant for those researching the ice sheets today. The way scientific findings were communicated through the transcripts vary from detailed glaciology reports (Fig. 2), to the self-proclaimed “trilling instalment” of direct measurements of scientific information (i.e. ice thickness: Fig. 3). Not only this, but throughout the expedition, the team built up strong international collaborations with the Americans, Danes, French, Australian and the Icelanders. By doing so, they were able to share and gain information on safe passage, weather reports or general advice. The successful logistic operation of the expedition is worthy of note. The partnership between those on the ice and the RAF worked effectively and efficiently. The RAF provided support from the air throughout the two years on the ice. The relationship flourished so well that the RAF dropped a Christmas hamper for those at main base in the first year.
Fig. 3. Naval message listing of ice thickness measurements (British North Greenland Expedition Archive, GEX/03-088, GEX/03-086, GEX/03-087, GEX/3-075
I have mentioned the huge success of the expedition, however, most polar exploration does not go without a few hiccups. For those on the BNGE expedition, there were certainly a few hiccups. Polar expeditions are often highly dangerous and the challenges that the team faced is highlighted throughout the transcripts. Although no specifics are recorded, the transcripts detail the gratitude of the family for the support they received after the death of Danish team member Captain Hans Jensen. Hans was the only fatality, however, there were several other “lucky escapes”. Weasels (snow tractors) often broke down in the middle of the ice sheet, exploded or fell into crevasses (Fig. 4). There were other incidents of fires breaking out in the engine room of their huts and bases. However, one of the most notable disasters was the “Ice Cap Crash” of 1952, that even made BBC news at home in the UK. Video footage of the crash site and drop operation was captured in this Ice Cap Men Return From Greenland (1952) video.
Fig. 4. Details of when Pete Taylor and Mike Banks fell into a 40-foot crevasse in a Weasel (snow tractor) (British North Greenland Expedition Archive, GEX/02-086)
A large portion of the transcripts detail the rescue plans and effort of the members on the ice, the RAF and the collaborators at the American base in Thule. The rescue took eight days, the three injured members of the aircraft crew made a full recovery in the hospital in Thule.
The BNGE was one of few scientific polar expeditions that took place in the mid-20th century and can be viewed as the inspiration for many internationally important scientific and geophysical investigations that followed. The knowledge and experiences gained by those on the expedition has moulded our understanding of the physics of ice sheets. It has also shaped the way that I view my own work, the incredible challenges that the team faced in the field are often now taken for granted because of technological advances. It has been a privilege to read through the personal accounts of each members experiences and the uplifting messages that they were able to send home.
Illustration of the ghost of Christmas past from A Christmas Carol: in prose, by Charles Dickens (19th Century Collection 823.83 DIC)
Although he is famed as a novelist and journalist, it is a fact perhaps less well-known that, during the last twelve years of his life, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) embarked on a new career for himself as a highly successful performer, touring Britain and America to deliver public readings from his novels and stories to thousands of people.
From 1853, Dickens had given successful public performances of his work for the benefit of charities, but from the late 1850s a feeling of restlessness combined with an inclination to accept invitations to read for money – perhaps owing to his recent purchase of a house, Gad’s Hill Place in Kent – and he began to give professional commercial public readings.
Dickens gave his first commercial reading in London on the evening of 29th April, 1858. Travelling with a manager, a valet and a technician, he used a simple stage-set of a small reading desk with a screen behind it to act as a sound-board for the projection of his voice, illuminated by gas-fittings hanging from a lighting rig above the stage. He rehearsed carefully and intensively so that he knew his texts by heart, and would improvise spontaneous variations in response to the reaction of a particular audience. As he read aloud he assumed the various roles and characters from his stories, imitating their accents and mannerisms to create a dramatic performance which was more than simply reading aloud from a book, and which delighted the crowds.
After his success in London Dickens went on to tour a number of provincial English cities, including Newcastle upon Tyne, and present in the audience there on 24th September 1858 for a reading of A Christmas Carol was the antiquarian Robert White. The White (Robert) Collection was presented to the then King’s College Library (now Newcastle University Library) by his family in 1942, and are now held in Special Collections. Contained in a journal amongst his papers is this vivid eye-witness account of his trip to hear Dickens read on that occasion.
Extract from Robert White’s journal
White begins, “In the evening went to hear Charles Dickens read his Christmas Carol – saw him at a distance of 10 yards.” He goes on to give a detailed physical description of Dickens, including his forehead which is “more broad than high”, “cheeks thin with wrinkles coming over them at the side of the nose, black eyes, brown rather than black… His chin and mouth are partly hidden by a beard – the mouth rather large and chin prominent.”
Of the performance itself, White writes enthusiastically, “He addressed the audience in perfect self-possession, a capital reader, or more a speaker, for his readings are like speakings. Every word falls distinctly on the ear… He has little or no action save when he throws it into the making up of a character. His imitations of the dramatis personae are very good.”
Jane Marcet was an unusual woman. She believed that girls as well as boys should be educated in science and economics and that scientific knowledge should not be hidden behind a requirement for proficiency in Latin and Greek. She loved to learn and was keen to share her enjoyment of learning with others. When she was unable to find books that satisfied her own curiosity, she wrote them herself.
Jane Marcet the hostess
Born in 1769, Jane was educated alongside her brothers under the guidance of her father Francis Haldimand, a rich Swiss merchant established in London. The household was a lively one, often gathering groups of friends and intellectuals. After her mother’s death, Jane took on the role of hostess and relished the stimulating and intelligent company of her father’s friends. In 1799 Jane married medical doctor and chemist Alexander Marcet. Jane’s father lived with the couple and their growing family, and the culture of gathering for conversation and learning continued.
Jane Marcet the student
It is clear that Jane was a sponge for knowledge. At around this time in London one of the entertainments available to the fashionable elite was attending lectures and demonstrations on scientific subjects. Some of the best, which Jane and Alexander attended together, were given by Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Jane was somewhat frustrated not to understand everything she heard and saw, but after each lecture she discussed the topic with her husband and their guests, seeking clarification and deepening her understanding. She described her experiences, writing about herself in the third person, in the preface to her first published work.
“On attending for the first time experimental lectures, the author found it almost impossible to derive any clear or satisfactory information from the rapid demonstrations which are usually, and perhaps necessarily, crowded into popular courses of this kind. But frequent opportunities having afterwards occurred of conversing with a friend on the subject of chemistry, and of repeating a variety of experiments, she became better acquainted with the principles of that science, and began to feel highly interested in its pursuit.” 1
She invited Humphrey Davy and wife to dine and so drew them into her social circle.
Jane Marcet the educator
In response to her own increased enjoyment of scientific lectures, once she had acquired some background knowledge, Jane was motivated to share her joy of learning. Her first book Conversations on Natural Philosophy, written in 1805, was not initially published, but her second, Conversations on Chemistry was published anonymously in 1806. Although anonymous, she made it clear in her preface that she was a woman. Her books were aimed at young women in their teens. In Conversations on Chemistry, she dismissed concerns that science was not suitable for girls simply by stating that public opinion was changing and therefore she considered it suitable.
Pulleys, wheels, the inclined plane, wedge and screw, drawn by Jane Marcet for Conversations on Natural Philosophy: in which the elements of that science are familiarly explained and adapted to the comprehension of young pupils (Wallis (Peter) Collection, Wallis 910 MAR)
Jane wrote textbooks intended for the non-expert at a time when this sort of simplified text was largely unknown. Simplification did not lead to stagnation, however. Her work was based on the latest ideas and she worked hard in subsequent editions to keep her books up to date, substantially revising them by adding the latest thinking and new discoveries and removing anything out of date.
After chemistry she tackled economics, publishing Conversations on Political Economy in 1816. Conversations on Natural Philosophy was eventually published in 1819. She followed these with Conversations onVegetable Physiology in 1829 as well as stories for younger readers. She put her name to her work in the 12th edition of Conversations on Chemistry in 1832.
Since “conversing with a friend” – probably primarily her husband – had been such an important means of her own learning, she emulated this, adopting a conversational style within her writing. Each of her textbooks is a conversation between a teacher, Mrs Bryan and two pupils, Caroline and Emily. These were not confined to the stilted question and answer style of many contemporary schoolbooks but instead were an approximation of normal lively conversation between a dedicated teacher and curious pupils. That this was a well-considered pedagogical technique was acknowledged by her contemporaries: “For Marcet, the dialogue is a teaching method, a means of conveying established knowledge as well as of helping young people to reorganize their own thoughts and experiences.” 2
The conversations frequently centre around experiments. The reader is able to experience and witness these vicariously through the questions, reactions and increased understanding of Caroline and Emily. This use of experimentation as a teaching method was innovative and, like the use of conversation, reflected her own learning experience.
To say that her books were a success is something of an understatement. Conversations on Chemistry ran to 16 English editions, Conversations on Natural Philosophy 14, Conversations on Political Economy 14 and Conversations on Vegetable Physiology 3. They were translated into Dutch, German, Spanish and French and there were many American editions where her work was widely plagiarised due to lack of international copyright laws.
Throughout her works she makes no claims to original thought but presents the ideas of others in innovative and clear ways. She is not afraid of tackling controversial subjects or the latest theories. The books had a mixed reception with critics, being praised by some and dismissed as unsophisticated by others, however they were widely read and provided a useful introduction to each subject for adult readers as well as the schoolgirl audience for whom they were intended.
After the death of her husband, Jane continued to be influenced by the diverse intellectual circle of friends that she nurtured around her. Conversations on Political Economy was based on what she had learned in conversation with thinkers in her social circle such as Thomas Malthus and, most significantly, David Ricardo. Her publication predates Ricardo’s own work Principles of Political Economy. A friendship with naturalist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle inspired Conversations on Vegetable Physiology.
The Common Pea, Pisum vulgaris, drawn by Jane Marcet for Conversations on Vegetable Physiology: comprehending the elements of botany, with their application to agriculture (Alderson (Brian) Collection, MAR CON)
Jane also published books on grammar and stories for young children including, in 1835, Mary’s Grammar which became a classic text and was still widely used until the early 1900s.
Jane Marcet the influencer
One of the early readers of Conversations on Chemistry was an apprentice book binder called Michael Faraday. He was inspired to attend Humphry Davy’s lectures himself. His insight and understanding made a favourable impression on Davy who later employed him as his assistant. He then rose to prominence in his own right. Jane befriended him and from 1833 incorporated his new discoveries into later editions.
Another member of Jane’s intellectual circle was Harriet Martineau. Martineau was inspired by reading Conversations on Political Economy to include the ideas in her own work. The two became friends although they did not always see eye to eye politically.
Jane Marcet the polymath
In her youth, Jane had travelled to Italy with her father and became interested in painting. She studied with Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence, nurturing a talent that resulted in her illustrating her own work with simple clear and stylish diagrams. She read both English and French fluently.
Despite having become proficient enough in science and economics to have written successful textbooks, she remained modest. Her friends wrote of her propensity for listening rather than talking. Having listened, it is her ability to communicate in a direct and engaging manner in her writing that is her legacy.
Her originality lay in both considering science and economics suitable subjects for girls, and in her pedagogical style, using dialogue and experimentation to help learners to organise and re-evaluate their thinking based on her own learning experiences. Emphasis is placed on understanding rather than rote learning or memorisation. The pupils in her conversations are expected to be active participants in their own learning, to think for themselves and to ask and answer questions. Marcet, through the voice of Mrs Bryant, guides the students and uses examples with which they will already be familiar from other disciplines as well as from everyday life. Commentators have suggested that Marcet was influenced by writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria Edgeworth and Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and while this is certainly possible, it is likely that her style drew its most significant influence from her own desire for knowledge and understanding, experience of wanting to learn, and achieving success through “conversing with a friend”. 3
Jane Marcet in Special Collections
There are many of Jane Marcet’s publications, in numerous editions, held across our collections, including in the Wallis (Peter) Collection; the Alderson (Brian) Collection; the Butler (Joan) Collection; the Bell (Maurice) Collection; the Medical Collection; 19th Century Collection; and the Blavatnik Honresfield Library.
This Treasure of the Month is brought to you through our Special for Everyone project to celebrate and highlight diversity across our collections.
Notes
1. Marcet, J. (1813) Conversations on Chemistry: in which the elements of that science are familiarly explained and illustrated by experiments. 4th / rev., cor. and considerably enl.. edn. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown.
2. Letter from Michael Faraday to Auguste de la Rive quoted in Henderson, W. (1994) ‘Jane Marcet’s Conversations on Political Economy: a new interpretation’, History of Education, 23(4)
3. Letter from Michael Faraday to Auguste de la Rive quoted in Henderson, W. (1994) ‘Jane Marcet’s Conversations on Political Economy: a new interpretation’, History of Education, 23(4)
Approximately 35 years after Akyaaba Addai-Sebo – a Ghanaian-born activist – established Britain’s first-ever ‘Black History Month’, the UK continues to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black people every October. This annual celebration aims to promote a better understanding of Black history, with events taking place all the way from London to Aberdeen this year.
To coincide with this important month, Newcastle Robinson Library has collaborated with Seven Stories to host a city-wide exhibition on Black Britain and children’s literature. Embodying the message, ‘Listen to This Story: From History to Our Story’, the exhibition features some of the most interesting picture books, nursery rhymes and illustrations, told from the material within Newcastle University’s Special Collections and Archives. The exhibition is running from 20th October 2022 – January 2023, on Level 2, Special Collections and Archives exhibition space, Philip Robinson Library – free and open to all.
Analysing these archived children’s works has enabled us to look back over centuries of British literary history, allowing us to present a unique insight into how race relations have changed within the UK. Many of the books show how, historically, literature for young people has played a prominent role in transferring problematic ideas about race and power. Indeed, it becomes clear that texts even for the very youngest of readers, such as ABC books and nursery rhymes, have depicted non-white people in derogatory and stereotypical ways.
Front cover of Ten Little Niggger Boys by Jean Cumming [on loan from Karen Sands O’Connor’s Collection.
In a similar way, we can see that young people’s texts also presented people of colour as being white children’s ‘play-things’, such as toys, dolls, and gnomes. Presenting Black people like this was historically used to justify white oppression as it effectively demonstrated people of colour as needing parental care and governance.
An example of this can be seen in William Nicholson’s The Pirate Twins (1929). In which, Nicholson presents two childlike pirates; miniature Black people who are cared for (and controlled) by a young white girl called Mary.
Illustration from The Pirate Twins, by Nicholson, William (1929) [Butler (Joan) Collection, 823.912 NIC]
These dehumanising caricatures became so normalised in British society that they could be found not only in children’s books but on postcards, perfume bottles, games, and jam jar stickers (to name but a few examples). They worked to elevate Eurocentric, white standards and devalue Black individuals, cultures, features and histories.
As a way to counteract and resist these harmful depictions, many authors, publicists and illustrators worked hard to create humanising stories which normalised and celebrated Black people.
It is clear, then, that a lot of progress has been made in the world of children’s literature.
However, with only 15% of published children’s books featuring a character of colour in 2020, we still have a long way to go to ensure that everybody is represented equally!
Written by exhibition placement student, Ella Fothergill.
We have sought to ensure that the content of this blog post complies with UK copyright law. Please note however, that we have been unable to ascertain the rights holders of some of the images used. If you are concerned that there may have been a breach of your intellectual property rights, please contact us with the details of the image(s) concerned at libraryhelp@ncl.ac.uk and we will have the specified image(s) taken down from the blog post.
Our Gertrude Bell website (link:http://gertrudebell.ncl.ac.uk/) features transcripts of thousands of Bell’s letters and diary entries, alongside over 7,500 of her photographs. Thanks to a generous donation from the Harry and Alice Stillman Family Foundation we have been able to digitise and catalogue the letters Bell wrote to her family, her diaries and photographs to modern day archival standards and this process has allowed us to uncover details beyond what has previously been recorded in the transcriptions.
The homepage of the current Gertrude Bell website
Original transcripts of Bell’s letters and diaries were created in the 1990s and published online in the early 2000s. While these provide an excellent resource for exploring their content, cataloguing and digitisation has revealed new details and insight into how Bell communicated with her family, how those letters reached home, and the early 20th Century world she lived in.
When travelling in the Middle East, as she did on several prolonged trips in the 1900s and 1910s, Bell often used her letters to chronicle her journey. She regularly continued writing the same letter for several days, adding a new section each day and posting it when passing through a town. The original transcripts of Bell’s letters treat each day’s addition as a separate page on the website, however cataloguing and digitisation has revealed how often Bell wrote the same letter over multiple days, and sometimes, how rarely she passed civilization and an opportunity to post a letter.
Envelope of a letter posted by Gertrude Bell to her step-mother from Turkey in July 1907, including stamp, postmark, a changed address and later annotations.
The envelopes Bell’s letters were posted in also provide clues about their journey after they were posted home. Her father, a wealthy industrialist, and her step-mother lived between their family home at Rounton Grange in North Yorkshire and Sloane Street in London. Bell would choose one or the other address to post the letter to and if the letters arrived at the address the intended parent was not at they would be forwarded on by crossing out the address and adding the correct one. This was not unlikely when postage from the Arabian Desert to Rounton could take several months! Indeed, the envelopes or letters themselves often contain hand written dates telling us when a letter was received by her family, providing an insight into the speed and efficiency of inter-continental postage of the day.
As records of their journey back to Britain the envelopes also have stamps affixed, postmarks, and during the First World War had stickers applied to signify that they’d been passed by a censor. The stamps provide a small insight into the countries Bell was posting her letters from and their changing political landscapes. This is particularly the case for the time that Gertrude lived and worked in what is now Iraq, during and after the First World War, where the changing face of the British occupation is reflected in the stamps on the envelopes of Gertrude’s letters home.
The front and reverse of an envelope from a letter written by Gertrude Bell to her step-mother in November 1916. The envelope has had a red stamp on its front and label on its rear indicated it has been opened by a censor. A pencil note also shows that this letter was not to be included in the later published work of Bell’s letters.
The letters also reveal clues as to how they’ve been used and managed in the time since Gertrude’s death in 1926. Following her death, Gertrude’s step-mother compiled and published two books containing text from many of Gertrude’s letters. The process of deciding what was and what wasn’t included is seen by the crossing out in pencil of sections of letter, or marking on the envelope that a letter was not to be copied. These are often sections where Gertrude talks about family matters or where Gertrude offered her (typically forthright) opinions of the people she met and worked with. Sometimes brief instructions were scribbled on the letters or envelopes themselves, particularly if a letter was not to be copied.
Letter written by Gertrude Bell to her father in March 1903. The letter includes a section which has later been crossed out in pencil and a postscript which Gertrude added after signing the letter.
Thus, the process of cataloguing and digitising Gertrude Bell’s rich archive of letters allows us to explore facets of Bell’s life and her letters that are not immediately obvious from their content alone. Marks which help us understand how she lived and communicated with her family, how the political and cultural landscape of the lands that Bell lived in changed, and how Bell’s family managed her letters can all be explored through the newly digitised and catalogued archive.
Thanks to project funding from the Harry and Alice Stillman Family Foundation a brand new Gertrude Bell website in early 2023. This will make the digitised images, transcripts and a new archival catalogue available alongside each other, providing a step-change in access to this internationally important archive.
Newcastle University is currently in the process of cataloguing the Sir Terry Farrell Archive, a collection of professional practice material from renowned architect, planner and urban designer Sir Terry Farrell. In amongst all the plans, correspondence and reems of project based material you would expect from an architecture firm there are also some more whimsical items. Namely caricatures and cartoons of urban features, people and the natural world.
Caricatures of employees often crop up in the collection. These caricatures entitled ‘The Tycoon Twins’ were intended to be hung in the company offices. They were created by Sir Terry depicting Stefan Krummeck and Gavin Erasmus, Directors of Farrells, Hong Kong. The correspondence note reads ‘I think the side by side pictures made them look as though they are arguing or not speaking, with the original option, one above the other, they look as though they are working together.’ The side-by-side option was clearly seen as being more effective.
Memos and presentation options for ‘The Tycoon Twins’ (uncatalogued collection).
‘The Tycoon Twins,’ by Sir Terry Farrell 2008 (uncatalogued collection).
Other caricatures are less formalised and are dotted throughout the concept and design sketches, possibly as a moment of distraction or procrastination.
Stylised drawings also make an appearance in some project work. Here are some sketched images showing the historical development of the Hungerford Bridge District, London from 1669 at Hungerford House and the construction of the suspension footbridge in 1845. These were also displayed in the company offices.
Stages of development of Hungerford Bridge from 1669 – 20th century (uncatalogued collection).
Sketching on the move is a common theme that runs through this collection. Caricatures form some of the material presumably produced by Terry when he was on his various travels. These images were located in a peculiar folder titled ‘Train portraits’. Maybe someone you know has been unwittingly sketched by Sir Terry.
‘Train Portraits,’ by Sir Terry Farrell 2006 (uncatalogued collection).
Aside from buildings and people, there are also some beautiful drawings of elements of the natural world which have been anthropomorphised. These trees form a series of artworks titled ‘The Old Men of Maytham,’ and include an Oak, a Beech and a Spanish Chestnut.
‘The Old Men of Maytham,’ by Sir Terry Farrell, April 2010 (uncatalogued collection).
‘The Old Men of Maytham,’ by Sir Terry Farrell, April 2010 (uncatalogued collection).
Material has been used with permission of Farrells. Sir Terry Farrell’s archive has been generously loaned to Newcastle University Library and is currently being catalogued. Once catalogued it will be made fully available to the public. All rights held by The Terry Farrell Foundation.
