Search results for ""Author Nell Darby""
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Sister Sleuths: Female Detectives in Britain
The 1857 Divorce Act paved the way for a new career for women: that of the private detective. To divorce, you needed proof of adultery - and men soon realised that women were adept at infiltrating households and befriending wives, learning secrets and finding evidence. Whereas previously, women had been informal snoops within their communities, now they were getting paid for it, toeing a fine line between offering a useful service and betraying members of their sex for money. Over the course of the next century, women became increasingly confident in gaining work as private detectives, moving from largely unrecognised helpers to the police and to male detectives, to becoming owners of their own detective agencies. In fiction, they were depicted as exciting creatures needing money and work; in fact, they were of varying ages, backgrounds and marital status, seeking adventure and independence as much as money. Former actresses found that detective work utilised their skills at adopting different roles and disguises; former spiritualists were drafted into denounce frauds and stayed to become successful private eyes; and several female detectives became keen supporters of the women's suffrage movement, having seen for themselves how career-minded women faced obstacles in British society. These were groundbreaking women, working in the shadows, often unnamed in press reports. Even today, they are something of an unknown, yet of intense interest to the public, their work largely an enigma. This new book seeks to shed light on the female detectives who have worked over the past century and a half to uncover wrongdoing and solve crimes.
£14.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd A History of Women's Lives in Oxford
Underneath the dreaming spires of Oxford's world-famous university, generations of women have lived their lives, fighting for the right to study there, and for a role within the city's educational, political and social spheres. Although a few of these women's names have been recorded for posterity, they have been largely because of their association with worthy or famous men; in this book, though, their own lives are detailed, along with those who have been largely omitted from history. Women's lives have always been less recorded than those of men; where a woman helped her husband with his business, this help may not have been formally recorded in the census returns, and the details of jobs recorded there might not reflect the full scale of women's work and responsibilities. So here, learn about the variety of work women undertook; their education, their social lives, and their attempts to carve out a valuable role for themselves. Learn too of the problems they faced in living their lives: poverty, prison, suicide, or even murder. This is no pretty picture of Oxford life designed for tourist brochures; instead, it aims to take a snapshot of the varied experiences of the city's female population over the course of a century.
£14.99
The History Press Ltd Olde Cotswold Punishments
Look beyond the pretty cottages and gentle landscapes of the Cotswolds, and you will find a dark history of crime and punishment. From child thieves, poachers, conmen, prostitutes and would-be suicides to bigamists, highwaymen and murderers, the Cotswolds has had its fair share of criminals – treated in what appears to us today to be an arbitrary and often unduly harsh manner by judges and juries. What crimes were committed in this rural society in the past, and how were they punished? This book looks at the variety of punishments bestowed to miscreants – from being hanged from a portable gallows at the scene of a crime to transportation or hard labour – and why some were punished more than others. Evidence is taken from contemporary sources: prison records, newspaper accounts and broadsides that celebrated the lives and deaths of local characters. It is a fascinating and shocking read.
£12.99