Kathrina Perry - Local Historian

  Last week I had the rare opportunity (especially after the last few years) to go to a course of Forgotten Women. Held at the amazing Bishopsgate Institute, Forgotten Women highlighted the different sources in which you can find women.   Studying women's history can be difficult. Much of the histories about towns, events etc are often written from the male perspective.  My own research into women in the boot and shoe industry in Northampton is evidence of this where much is written about the factories themselves and the products they made. The social and somewhat more personal histories are of the manufacturers and owners, many of whom were heavily involved in local politics. However, very little is written about their wives despite them also having a large role in local campaigns and organisations. Even those who were the mayoress are rarely mentioned, other than a sentence in the local newspapers to say they'd attended a prize giving.  The course, however, in...

 May Update: The Cogs Are Turning Slowly  Well hello friends, comrades, fellow historians/genealogists/random people who I force to read my blog.  I thought I'd do a quick update on the progress I have been making over the past few weeks.  March Progress  I'm afraid to say I still haven't started my political chapter, I do, however, have a plan to write it and hope to start it in the next couple of weeks.  I did start my regular blog posts and you can read about  Lady Margaret Manfield  and  Elizabeth Arnold  on this blog. I also wrote a blog post for History Bites on Catherine Lewis.   I'm hoping to get a few more blog posts written in the next few months including one about women's contributions to hospital fundraising and a book review for the Women's History Network.  April  April saw me being able to get to the archives a bit more as well as doing a short walk around Northampton to literally look for ladies.  I f...

  Elizabeth Arnold was the wife of James William Arnold (known as William Arnold) of A & W Arnold, Northampton. Born in Northampton in 1861 to Alfred Walker, was a boot fitter from Alfred’s Place St Sepulchre’s Northampton , and Elizabeth Harriet Cox, from Thrapston, Northampton, she married William Arnold on 30 th November 1885 at St Michaels Church, Northampton.[1] Elizabeth Arnold, Primitive Methodist Magazine, 1928 We can make assumptions about Mrs Arnold’s demeanour from the personal recollections of her husband, William. It is noted that the couple’s philanthropic activities, especially connected to religious causes, were vast and they gave 10% of their income to worthy causes, a decision made by Elizabeth.[2] Elizabeth was described as encouraging William “in all those admirable works that have characterised [their lives]. Like Dorcas she was full of good works and alms deeds.”[3] Her husband attributed the change of his life of lost faith and battle with abs...

    Lady Manfield was the wife of Sir Moses Philip Manfield, owner of Manfield and Sons. Born Margaret Milne, Lady Manfield was the second wife of Sir Philip and was the daughter of James Milne who was the County Surveyor. [1]  Her obituary in the  Northampton Mercury  makes mention of her “many kind and generous deeds” and describes her co-operation with her husband’s pursuits rather than that of her own altruism. [2]  However, further research into her own activities suggests otherwise. The involvement of Lady Manfield, as she was know from 1894 when her Husband was knighted in the King’s Birthday Honours, can be seen as in keeping with the philanthropic nature of the Unitarian church that both she and her husband were members of. When the Unitarian church and school buildings on the Kettering Road in Northampton opened in 1897, Sir Philip Manfield attributed the inception of the church, reported to be circa £5000 (approximately £654,700 today[3]) togethe...

New Series Coming Soon:   Ladies of the Shoe Trade: Women's Philanthropy in the Northampton Boot and Shoe Industry  Recently I was invited to write a blog post for History Bites  and it got me thinking that I should do more to share some of my research on my own blog. So I've decided to start a weekly series with short biographies of the ladies that I am researching for my PhD. The main thought behind this is to gather my research but hopefully people will find them interesting.  I plan to post the profiles every Thursday to give myself a regular target.  Some of the profiles might not be complete but will have lots of information about philanthropic activities that the ladies were involved in.   A number of local boot and shoe making families will be features including the Manfield, Bostock, Lewis, Arnold and Barratt families.  I always welcome comments, particularly with stories about the families. 

March - Still in limbo but have a plan  I thought it would be a good time to do a quick update on how I'm getting on with all those targets I set...... Here's a recap:  For January/February I tasked myself.......  Primary research - including visits to Northampton Central Library, Northamptonshire Records Office and potentially London Type Up Notes  Organise notes into categories/topics (Current plans for General Women, Religion, General philanthropy, politics, organisations including hospitals, local history/geographic factors)  Tidy up bibliography list Create research list for both primary and secondary Create a research timetable Write 800/1000 per week - either chapter work or biographies (To see what I've tasked myself for the whole year check out my last blog post )  January Update January was a bit of a damp squib. Although I had 4 weeks off work (Exams and Semester break - nothing major) and had planned to get a large chunk of writing done I did no...

2022: Another Year Another Blog  Happy New Year. Here's to another year of PhD woes. I say woes, I don't mean it. When I get a chance to sit down and get my teeth into research I actually really enjoy it. I wouldn't even say I don't enjoy writing. I love getting my research on paper and bringing it all together. However, it can be quite tedious and frustrating at times.  Just to update you, I started this PhD in October 2019 bc (before Covid). I've been through transfer and now the world is my oyster until October 2025, which is my final deadline.  I don't make new years resolutions but I do try to make plans. My plans for this year (particularly as I have big chunks when I won't be working so can focus on my PhD) are:  Reach 40,000 words by the end of the year  Write drafts for at least two chapters  Visit Northamptonshire Records Office, the Women's Library and The National Archives  Present at least two seminar papers (one of these is already planne...