Women’s History Month

Here are four UK Historical Champions - Annie Brewster, Fanny Eaton, Princess Sophie Duleep Singh and Una Marson.

Annie Brewster - Medic - top left

Brewster was born in 1858 on the West Indian Island St Vincent. She travelled to the UK with her businessman father and siblings in the 1860s. The family settled in Dulwich, south London.

 Brewster became a student nurse at the London Hospital in 1881, she was promoted to nurse in charge of the Ophthalmic wards looking after elderly patients. Brewster was affectionately known as ‘Nurse Ophthalmic’.

Read about other medics here.

Fanny Eaton - Model - top right

Eaton was a Pre-Raphaelite artist’s model, she was born in 1835 in Jamaica, she travelled to England with her mother in the 1840's.  Although her modelling career was short it was impactful and important as Ethnic Minorities were not viewed as the ‘accepted standard’ of beauty. The question is – how far has the dial moved today?

She’s depicted in Simeon Solomon’s painting ‘Mother of Moses’ and Dante Gabriel Rossetti ‘The Beloved’. Eaton also modelled for other artists including John Millais.

Read about other creatives here.

Princess Sophie Duleep Singh - Activist - bottom left

Singh was born in London in 1876, she was a Suffragette - her god mother was Queen Victoria. In 1909 Singh became a suffragette fighting for women’s voting rights, she was often photographed selling the Suffragette magazine outside Hampton Court Palace where she lived.

Singh was an asset to the movement and not just because of her tenacity. As Queen Victoria’s god daughter her activism received attention from the press which helped raise the profile of the movement.

Read about other activists here.

Una Marson - radio host - bottom right

Marson was born in Sanz Cruz Jamaica in 1905, she travelled to London in 1932, Marson was a feminist, activist, poet, published author and radio host of the BBC program she named ‘Caribbean Voices’. 

Marson lived and worked between London and Jamaica during her lifetime. She was the first Black woman employed by the BBC - she hosted and later produced the radio show ‘Caribbean Voices- during World War Two. The programme was an important vehicle for Caribbean authors and an avenue for getting Caribbean literature broadcast throughout the world.

 Read about other creatives here.