Barnsley Museums Celebrates International Women's Day

For International Women's Day we are celebrating the lives of Barnsley women past and present, thorugh a collection of blogs and oral history interviews.

Rita Britton Interview

Trailblazer, businesswoman, educator and fashion designer, Rita first opened her renowned boutique Pollyanna in 1967. It was amongst the first boutiques outside of London to stock multiple high end designers alongside her own beautiful designs. Pollyanna is synonymous with high end sustainable fashion from the industrial heart of Yorkshire. Rita is as passionate about sustainable textiles as ever, and she is still designing from her Barnsley studio for a global market. This interview is dedicated to Rita and all the wonderful women that are the heart and soul of Barnsley.

 

 

Download a complete transcript

Three athletes are standing arm in arm. The central figure wears a "U.S.A" jersey. The athlete on the left has number 188, and the one on the right has Olympic rings. It seems to be a moment of camaraderie after a race. The image is black and white.

Dorothy Hyman - Blog and interview

Dorothy Hyman was born on 9 May 1941 and grew up in a terraced house in Cudworth. The second of four children, she had two sisters and two brothers, her father was a coal miner. After running in a sports day event in junior school, her father noticed Dorothy had a talent for sprinting and began suggesting runs around the local parks. From the age of 13 she officially started training with friends around Oakwell on a Sunday, which led to competing in local racers. Later joining a junior group in Thurnscoe, training twice a week after travelling on two buses to get there. At 15 she was invited to train at Shropshire to learn more about circuit training, becoming an international sprinter at 16. In this article Tracey Hebron (Collections Clerk) provides a snapshot of Dorothy’s career.

 

You can also listen to an oral history interview from 2022

Ann Shaw of Worsbrough Mill

William and Ann Shaw were millers at Worsbrough during a time of prosperity for the mill. They married at St Mary’s Church in Worsbrough on 20 June 1799. In the months that followed, engineers and navvies arrived to cut a canal and construct the vast reservoir outside.

Little was know about Ann Shaw until recently, read more about her fascinating life in this new blog

Oral History interview: Margaret Hill - decoder at Bletchley Park

Margaret talks about how she and her first husband, Walter Weston, both lived on Spencer Street, Barnsley and met as children, then later married and both worked at Bletchley Park. The Official Secrets Act had prevented Margaret from talking about her work for many years including to her parents, children and second husband. In this interview, she describes some of the decoding work she did, some of the people who worked there, visits from notable people such as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill and social events.

She also talks about her eventual return to Barnsley at the end the war. Margaret and Walter moved to Wombwell, but shortly afterwards Walter unexpectedly died, leaving Margaret as a young widow and mother. However, the focus of her interview is the secrecy around her work and life at Bletchley Park. 

The Barnsley Women Against Pit Closures (podcast)

The interviews in this episode were recorded on 12 May 1984 at a large Women Against Pit Closures rally at the Barnsley Civic Hall. The event was much larger than expected with an estimated 10,000 women travelling from all parts of the country to the event at the civic hall and had 40 speakers. You are about to hear speeches by Ann Hunter (chairperson of rally), Lorraine Hunter, two miners' wives from Nottinghamshire and Arthur Scargill. Interviews with Chris Hall (of Barnsley Women Against Pit Closures), various miners' wives, nurses from South Wales raining community, miners' wives from Wales, and Susan Sykes, miner's wife from Grimethorpe.

Other blogs

Vintage black and white photo of a women's football team posing on a field. Twelve women are dressed in matching jerseys and shorts, with two men in suits standing on either side.

Frieda Stoner

A book cover titled "Head Shot" by Victoria Nixon features a black and white photograph of a woman's face with long hair and bangs. The tagline mentions glamour, grief, and life in the 1960s and 1970s. Background includes shades of pink and gray.

Victoria Nixon

A sepia-toned vintage photograph of a woman wearing an ornate lace dress. She has short curly hair and is standing against a backdrop with floral patterns. The image has an aged, speckled appearance.

Madame Amy Joyner: A Barnsley Soprano

Illustration of four women in historical clothing standing indoors. They wear long dresses with aprons and high collars. One woman wears a hat. The background has ornate window frames.

Women Business Owners of Eldon Street

Encounters: The Life Of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Elderly woman wearing round glasses and a patterned blouse, with hair pulled back. She appears to be looking slightly to the side. The image has a sepia tone, giving it a vintage appearance.

Adelaide Jackson

A portrait of a bald man in a suit with a vest and tie, seated against a blurred background. The painting uses warm and cool tones, giving a formal and serene impression.

Artist Brenda Bury

An elderly man and woman sit back-to-back outdoors. The woman faces left, wearing a dark dress, and the man faces right, smiling with his legs crossed, wearing a suit. Both have white hair. The background shows foliage. The image is in black and white.

Evelyn De Morgan

A woman and an older man are sorting through pieces of pottery and artifacts on a table in a wooden room. The woman is focused on examining an item, while the man observes. Both are dressed in early 20th-century attire.

Dorothy Greene